20 Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy
by NeuroticMuse413
Summary: Veela!Draco. Draco and Hermione struggled to deal with the implications of their secret romance, the shed blood and broken friendships, but when both realize their love is based on a lie, they turn the world upside down for one last taste of lost passion.
1. Too Close to the Sun

DISCLAIMER: _I don't own Harry Potter or any other character by JK Rowling._

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"**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy"**

By NeuroticMuse413

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**Year 6.**

There were no words. Her mind was blank at first. All she could do was sit at the table near the bed and bite anxiously on her nails, staring at his perfectly sculpted ass. And yes, it was perfect, if not a bit pale. She smiled to herself at the thought then quickly realized she was watching her worst enemy sleep, naked, in the room where they'd just had sex. Not just any tragic-mistake, what-the-hell-was-I-on kind of sex either. It was glorious, stimulating, positively scintillating…

And it killed her more that she didn't feel shame. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to watch him sleep, because as long as he lied in that bed motionless, quiet, she could still pretend she had not slept with the cruel, thick jerk she'd grown to despise. She had slept with a boy who had the potential to be something greater in her life. As long as he slept, she could, _and did_, love him and as she went to open the door to leave, she took one final look at the boy she loved and her smile became a tear.

She hated to admit it but this was the first and last time. Whatever she had felt for him in body had been withered by guilt, by the sad reality that awaited her outside that room: Ron.

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_2 Months Ago..._

Hermione realized the change in Draco sometime before Christmas but it was the very last day before break that she truly felt so much pity, she confronted him in front of the boys' bathroom. He looked so worried, anxious, like something was after him in an empty hallway. He clawed at his arm and she knew. The Dark Mark.

"Malfoy, are you alright?" she asked, feeling her lunch attack her from the inside out for talking to him, knowing he was ready to respond with disdain and tasteless wit.

"It burns," he whispered, begging for help with his eyes. She had never really stopped to look him straight in the face, not like this.

She took his arm and rolled back the sleeve, and there it was. The Mark growled at her, even though it did not move. It knew what she was and wanted nothing more than to discard her.

"Come with me," she said, and led him into the girls' bathroom, checking for Myrtle within the stalls. It was empty. She ripped off his sleeve and wet it in the sink then placed it back over the Mark. She whispered a cooling spell and the water on the sleeve became instantly cold. She wrapped it around it. He winced, quickly moving his hand over hers as if it would stop the feel of the stinging cold.

He sighed but she knew it was for her benefit. The Mark was more than skin-deep. It tore at his very principles, or else he would _never_ have asked for help. The heat would never stop until Voldemort got his way.

And then he said something she never thought she'd hear him say. "Thank you."

That was the final straw. It was getting too creepy for her. She gulped and nodded and avoided his eyes as much as possible. She went to leave but he caught her arm. There was a moment of awkward silence and then he said, "Don't leave. I mean, not for a bit? Please."

"Draco, have you gone mad?" she scoffed.

"I'm not kidding," he begged, then whispered, "I'm sorry. Please, just don't leave me alone. If not for my sake, do it for Potter."

"What are you going to do to Harry?"

"Hermione, believe me. I don't want to do anything. Make sure I don't," he said, gripping her arm. He looked so sad, so desperate.

She felt slightly compelled. His touch was drilling into her, but it went away too quickly. He realized he looked pathetic and let go, straightened up, and cleared his throat.

He went to apologize but she cut him off. "You really don't have anyone, do you?" He shook his head quickly yet reluctantly. "I'm sorry. I can't help you. I won't tell about the Mark but I can't…" She stopped mid-sentence.

That was all she said and left. Christmas break started and she stayed with Harry. Why, she wasn't sure. Something told her turmoil was coming their way. She said her goodbyes to Ron and Ginny and Neville and the rest, only to leave the comforts of Gryffindor Tower again in search of Draco.

She told herself she was worried for Harry. That she was finding out Draco's plan by getting close to him. But she secretly wanted to enter that dark world. It was so enticing that she had to taste it, like the ultimate piece of chocolate cake. It called to her.

She pretended to walk the halls like she was in a hurry to get somewhere, but secretly she searched for him. Ironically enough, she found him in the library, in the farthest, most secluded desk. The entire library had emptied with the holidays.

She still walked with caution between the book shelves. She pulled out one near where he sat and whispered his name. He didn't hear, too lost in the chatter in his brain. She looked down at his hands. He had one holding his temple as he stared at a book. The other trembled on the desk, fiercely. His ring sometimes knocked on the wooden desk, making a large clacking sound. He didn't seem to notice.

"Draco!" she hissed louder.

He jumped up, startled, falling back on his chair. She giggled then went to help him up. He laughed a little too but never so reluctantly then pulled away when he saw her smile down at him.

"Get off me!" he yelled.

"I'm not on you!" she responded. _So much for sneaking by,_ she thought.

"Well stop touching me!"

"Oh I'm sorry! Am I touching you?" she yelled, poking him fiercely and repeatedly in the gut.

He made a noise like he was gagging at something disgusting. He shushed her and began to pick up his books in a huff.

"Draco, stop," she said solemnly. "I think I can help you."

"Help me with what?" he growled back, to the brink of spitting.

"The thing on your arm? I think I can help you."

His anger and disdain suddenly flew from his face and he looked at her just as sadly. He gave a little nod and gestured towards the door. "Meet me at the dock on the lake at 7."

And he left.

-----

Hermione waited on the dock for a few minutes before he came. She spent it thinking what to do. She didn't really know how she was going to get his plan out of him. She tried to focus on Harry, how she was going to save him from any incoming pains.

"Did you bring it?" he asked. She snapped out of thought.

"No," she said haughtily. "You have to answer me first."

He sighted. "What do you want to know?"

"What you're planning to do to Harry."

"Are you kidding me?" he said and chuckled. It was an evil sort of chuckle that made her eye twitch slightly and her fingers curl into a fist. "What the hell have you been smoking, Granger?"

"Tell me or I won't give you the cure."

"What am I thinking? There's no cure. The Dark Mark is forever."

She felt such pity. He looked so downtrodden. "The Mark maybe but I can calm the voices. You're not the only to go through this, Draco," she said, taking a step towards him. He didn't back away. She put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't take it away. She gave him a hug, and he gave in.

Her hug, simple as it was, was ever so new to him. She didn't want something from their hug, didn't have malevolent plans. She wanted to help a friend, and now she wanted to help _him_. He hoped to what little God listened to him still that right now, she didn't mind being his friend.

When they broke from their hug, he couldn't look her in the eye. It was like he was the bad child and she was his mother, catching him in an illicit affair with cookie dough. But she knew he'd never had those moments and his mother was not one to care too much about what this was doing to him.

She doubted his mother even knew how horrid he looked or felt. She thought, _Maybe money doesn't buy everything_. But she quickly dismissed it as cruel and they went on their separate ways.

-----

Draco caught her again two days later and they spoke of spells and charms and anything they could discuss in secret. Hermione was determined to help him.

Christmas break was over too soon and Draco returned to being Draco. He tried to talk to her a few days into January, after avoiding her like a leper in class. Even Ron, who lived in the clouds over the Great Hall, noticed his reclusive posture, his reserved vision… his jumpy responses to simple gestures from fellow Slytherins. When he finally found a time she was alone, it was under the tree in the courtyard near the lake. She was reading, as he always imagined her doing.

When he went to talk to her, Ron and Harry came up behind the tree and greeted her and suddenly he felt ridiculous and went to walk off. But it was too late. Ron had seen him.

"You!" he called out. "You coming after Harry again, is that it? You coward!"

Draco winced, knowing trouble was coming. Hermione, knowing he was coming after her not Harry, jumped up to stop Ron. She had forgotten about the train ride, how Draco had beaten Harry so shamelessly. Strangely, she didn't feel any defensiveness towards Harry, nor hatred toward Draco. It was as if something in his eyes told her and her alone that he was sorry and that he did so because he had no choice, because it was his nature to do so.

It had turned into a battle of wits, and Ron was gravely losing. The courtyard soon filled with students, hordes of them running in from inside the school. The Slytherins gathered behind Draco, as always, more so now that he had committed truly to the Dark Lord. Hermione hated knowing that. She knew Harry suspected it and that she of course knew it before ever seeing the Mark, but she hated knowing it for sure without a doubt. Before, there was hope that he could change. But there would never be.

And then it happened, the worst thing she could have ever imagined. The instant those words left Draco's mouth, she knew this was the end of an epic friendship.

"**I challenge you,"** he shouted in Ron's face.

For a small moment, she felt the sparks flying through the air between them. Pure hatred.

"Challenge me? What are you, mad?" Ron replied, giving a nervous chuckle. He was truly terrified, she could tell, but she knew Ron better than most.

She had to step between them, if only to save him. "There hasn't been a challenge at Hogwarts in 96 years, Malfoy. Someone died the last time," she said, her bottom lip trembling. A death was the last thing the wizarding world needed. Losing Ron was the last thing Harry needed. And most importantly, letting him sift away through her fingers after so many year would be the most excruciating thing she'd ever feel.

Draco furrowed his brow and hovered over her menacingly. Strangely, she did not fear the look in his eyes. She despised it, yes. But she couldn't fear it… him. It was as if all those years of thinking him a coward took their toll. She had no choice but feel sorry for him.

"Then it's about time we had another one. I refuse to take it back. I challenge you," he said.

"Would you stop saying that?" Ron hissed. The other students looked afraid as well, even the Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle looked very much lost in translation. Hermione would have translated but she didn't speak idiot. Not fluently at least.

"Do you accept?" Draco asked, looking over Hermione's head, to Ron, who looked slightly dazed and now sadder than a boy who'd just lost his puppy to an incoming locomotive. He was still caught in the shock of the aftermath.

"I don't really a choice, do I?" he said quietly. "I accept your challenge, Draco Malfoy."

Draco smirked devilishly. "What's the stake then? Obviously, it's not money."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Malfoy. The need to growl suddenly rose in her but she suppressed it. She wanted to reach for her wand but she knew Ron's life might depend on her stepping aside that very moment. So, she lowered her head and moved.

This was an even larger mistake. Draco saw the way Ron looked at her as she moved aside. He saw her pain and self-doubt. And he saw a weakness.

"I wager Granger," he said with a smirk.

Boom.

Hermione's heart suddenly exploded. The shattered pieces flowed off with her blood and into her stomach and seemed to want to resurface.

"What?" she said, suddenly breathless.

"It's the only thing of value you have, Weasley. I wager Hermione," Draco said, haughtily. Hermione didn't know whether to be flattered or completely appalled. She was pretty sure she was the latter, but she couldn't help but imagine what sort of life she'd have with Malfoy. She'd have money, that's for sure. But would she be happy? She realized she wasn't breathing and turned around slowly toward her friends.

Harry gulped, despite not really knowing what was going on. When he thought of challenge, he thought of dueling which he had done, with Malfoy, on various occasions. But these were not the same. Ron looked paler than ever. He looked like he'd just swallowed his own vomit and regretted having that 4th piece of pie at lunch.

"Stop this!" Hermione yelled. "I refuse to be a part of this!"

Draco laughed, like a lizard attacking a fly. "As if you have a choice!"

"No… There must be rules! I refuse to be Malfoy's… sex slave," Hermione said, feeling her own pie resurface. Her face seemed to scream the words _raw citrus_ to Draco. He was slightly offended but his calm exterior didn't show it.

The Slytherins all looked increasingly smaller in the background. Had any of them any balls to stand up, they would have hit Malfoy over the head with a plank rather have this blasphemous challenge hanging over one of their own. A pureblood and a Mudblood? Impossible! Unless Draco had something dastardly in mind…

Draco had given another laugh. "I'm not so desperate I need a virgin for a mate. Get over yourself, Granger. I'd rather hump a tree."

His words struck Hermione more than she thought they would. She expected him to compare her to some vile thing but his exact words caught her attention.

_Mate…Virgin…_

How did he know she was a virgin? And why the word mate, as if he believed in some sort of fate behind love? The way he'd said his disdain, it was as if he had a hidden agenda. Did he have a crush on her, maybe? Is that why he started such a ridiculous thing?

She quickly snapped out of her train of thought, seeing his devious smirk re-emerging. Dumbledore was coming down into the courtyard in front of Filch and McGonagall.

"What's going on here?" the professor yelled. He stopped and saw their shocked faces and instantly knew, in that special way Dumbledore could read people, that something terrible had just happened.

"A challenge was struck, Professor," Draco said proudly, as if it was a sign of his daring and not his stupidity.

"WHAT? Mr. Weasley, you agreed to this?"

Ron nodded, still slightly in shock. Dumbledore sounded angrier than he had ever been. Even when faced with Voldemort, he had never turned this particular color, like a cumquat. Draco wasn't sure why it reminded him of a cumquat. He wasn't sure what color cumquats were. He just loved the word. And the thought alone made him stifle giggles.

The entire crowd gasped, as if Draco had gone so mad that he laughed to himself about something so terrible. He didn't notice. For all he knew, he really had gone mad. But if he won, he'd have Granger to help him, without having to hide or anything. She'd be free to help him hide the Mark, free to hug him on piers without end or fear of onlookers.

He realized then, he did it for the hugs. He loved having her in his arms, the way her hair felt and her skin smelled. And it dawned on him that maybe… just maybe… he was taken with her. That made his skin crawl.

Even after the crowd parted and he and Ron were being taken to Dumbledore's office like two prisoners walking death row, he only thought of _her_.

Ron began to think of her as well, of what it would mean if Draco had her, if it was even possible. Would it mean she'd leave Gryffindor? Would she become his slave and be forced to bow down to him like a dog?

The moment Dumbledore slammed closed the doors to his office, both snapped out of thought. They sat before his desk, but neither could remember the walk there. They were too busy coming to terms with their own minds.

"Mr. Malfoy, are you sure about this? Do you understand the consequences of these actions?" the Headmaster asked.

"Quite," he answered.

"And what will HE be wagering?" Ron spat back.

"There is no second wager in a challenge, Mr. Weasley. You have offended him in some way. The insult was put to him first. He is simply responding, demanding retribution, in this case the relinquishment of Ms. Granger to him in body and mind."

Ron scoffed as if the entire thing was ridiculous. "So if I win, I get nothing. If he wins, he gets Hermione?" he yelled, mortified.

"Oh no. If you survive, you get to keep your life. If not, then who cares if I get Granger or not? You'll be dead."

"Dead?" Ron gulped.

"Now now, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore interrupted. "Death is not so common. It's just a possible outcome."

Ron looked at Dumbledore like he was calling a dragon a kitten, even as the dragon ate him piece by piece and cooked the rest by a campfire.

"Pardon me if I FREAK THE HELL OUT!" Ron yelled even louder.

"The rules of the challenge are open to all wizard-kind, Mr. Weasley. I hold no authority to it. It has been so long since there's been an official challenge, there's almost no precedent," the professor said, resting back in his chair and sighing. "The battle will be where, then?"

"Somewhere public would be nice," Draco said, eerily cheerful. Ron sputtered a response.

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed. "Mr. Weasley, it's up to you to choose an elemental battlefield."

"A what?" Ron asked, realizing he really had no clue what he'd just been entered in.

"Water, earth, fire, or sky. Pick a field."

"In the sky," Ron said, knowing he was best on a broom.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said, more somber and quiet. "Three days is the standard. We'll meet at the Quidditch field after such time. Till death or surrender."

-----

Hermione had been pacing outside the portrait of the fat lady when Ron came walking towards her, his mind still elsewhere. He raked his hand throw his hair, looking at her like she'd just shot his brother and he was trying to hide the evidence to save her. This was Ron, she thought. He'd do anything for her.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry you got dragged into this," he said. That she did not expect. In fact, she was quite sure he would have asked her what Draco wanted with her or if there was something she wanted to tell him for why she was all of a sudden the object of his desire.

But no. Ron was not like that. It was not that he was not bright, though he was prone to strange moments of blank thought. He merely took the blame, as if she really had killed her brother. If only he knew she'd kill a part of _him_ instead.

"Don't Ron. We'll get out of this just fine," she said with a fake, yet reassuring, smile.

She did not follow him through the portrait however. She went back to that tree where Draco had come to talk to her. She didn't know why but she figured he'd come back to her. He had to, in her mind. She needed an explanation.

Surely enough, as if she had called to him in her mind, he came walking towards the tree. She looked around. They were alone for now, but that was not enough for him. His walk turned brisk and soon, he was almost running towards her. She stood, frozen, her fist tightening around her wand. He mouthed out something in the distance and his broom flew under him, lifting him up cleanly and swiftly directly towards her.

He wrapped a quick hand around her waist and she knew to mount. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist. She'd always been terrified of flying.

"Draco, what are you doing?" she yelled into his ear. He smiled, she knew, and took her higher and higher into the sun. She didn't dare look into the sunlight and shut her eyes tightly. Draco did not bother to turn his eyes from his target. She felt the broom turn sharply when they reached a certain vertical height.

When she opened her eyes, she was on the roof of the grand central tower of Hogwarts. She quickly dismounted and bent over to catch her breath. She didn't realize she hadn't been breathing.

"ARE YOU MAD?" she screamed.

He looked apologetic and _so_ tired. "It's an old trick. If you want to hide where you're going from onlookers, fly to where they cannot see you and swerve. The sun is the perfect blind spot…"

She interrupted, "…because it's in plain sight?"

He smiled at her genius. "Exactly."

"Draco, what are we going to do now? How could you have done such a thing?" she pleaded as she rested her eyes in her hand. She wondered if he could see her as horribly as she saw him. The sun must have temporarily blinded him, she thought. But it hadn't.

She marveled at _his_ genius, and suddenly realized it was rooted in evil. And her smile faded just as quickly as it came.

Her eyes covered, she fell back onto the old tiles on the roof. He ran to catch her before she slid but ended up kneeling before her, his pride down.

"Hermione, I ask you to go along with this. I know it was stupid but it's too late to take it back," he said, brushing a strand of hair back.

What sort of deluded relationship he'd conjured in his mind, she didn't know but contemplated often. She hated how he could turn cold and hot in an instant.

They were friends. Period. He had no claim on her, and she could not allow him to have any claim now. Somehow, even friendship felt dirty to her.

"Are you going to kill him?" she asked timidly, feeling like a little girl in front of him. She noticed he'd changed into his Quidditch wear and looked a tad dashing, just as Harry and Ron did when dressed. It brought another reluctant smile to her face and looked away.

"Would you hate me if I did?"

"Of course!" she shouted.

He looked down. "Then I won't kill him… Can I maim him at least?"

She looked at him crossly. "No! Please. I'll ask of him the same."

"In three days we fight, Hermione. Does the oaf even know what he's fighting for?"

She looked down again and whispered sheepishly, "No. He apologized to me for getting me involved." He gave a small, sharp laugh. "He meant well, Draco! And he doesn't know."

There was a small moment of silence. "What is it we're hiding here, Hermione?"

"I don't know… but it hurts more to keep."

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**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO:**

--Who will win the challenge and who will keep Hermione?

--Will Ron ever find out about Draco and Hermione's talks during winter break?

--Does the Mark ever come off?

--What secret is Draco hiding?

--Does he really care about Hermione the way she thinks?

--What's the significance of the words Draco used?

--Why did Dumbledore seem a little sadder when Ron suggested the sky field?

--And finally… what will Harry do when he finds his best friend in the embrace of his worst enemy?

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	2. Dusty Rooms and Revelations

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART TWO

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_This chapter is dedicated to the song _"Exit Music (for a Film)"_ by the band _Radiohead _– go download it – and to everyone that reviewed. I hope to reply to all as soon as possible. The cover to _20 Sinful Nights_ is now on my author page. Click on my name above. Thank you._

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On the way down from the roof, Hermione found it hard to focus on the world around her. Ever since her heart exploded the moment Draco called the challenge, she found it hard to do much of anything, let alone think or worry that they were sneaking in on a broom very close to sunset. They couldn't use the sun to hide anymore.

When they landed, he took her hand in his and pulled her in behind a pillar. She looked at him crossly and warned, "Don't even think about it."

He shushed her immediately and looked down the hall. McGonagall was coming down with Snape, both extremely worried. They fought but Snape seemed to apologize more than yell back.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

Draco raised an eyebrow and instinctively drew closer when he saw Snape look around to see if the hall was clear. Hermione gulped. His frame probably hid her entirely, except for her hair that would have curled out over him. She hated that in that moment, in the heat of it, she only thought about her hair being visible from outside.

She looked away, not that he was looking at her in the first place. She knew he didn't see her that way, at least in that moment. But after Snape had cleared the hallways and they were alone again, he looked down at her looking at her gentle face, hidden by his shadow.

He was disgusted with himself for seeing this girl as she was in that moment, vulnerable, and not taking what he wanted. He would have laughed at her, shunned her, degraded her any day and not cared. But it was that moment, that stolen look and stolen closeness that awoke something in Draco.

All of a sudden, air was too much of a luxury. His vision fogged up everything but her. She was perfectly clear, like a target and he was the arrow. Her eyes seemed to radiate worry but it just made him smile deviously.

"Draco, what's wrong with your eyes? Are you ok?" she said, but it came out garbled to him. "Draco!"

But he had rolled off her and begun to slide down the wall in small seizures. "What did you do to me?" he asked, choking.

She didn't know what to do. She had never seen this kind of disease before, never heard of something so sudden and unprovoked. "I didn't do anything!"

"Kiss me," he said softly, trying to stop his arm from shaking. "Just kiss me. Please. It'll stop this."

She didn't believe him but it was not unheard for kisses to break spells, and she couldn't deny that she'd wanted to kiss him all Christmas break. She thought of the Draco she'd come to know and help, the Draco who seemed to care about her enough to keep his snide remarks in check. She didn't love him but she cared about him enough to kiss him.

And she took his face in her hands gently, brushing his hair back ever so lightly, and leaned in to kiss him. It was not the sort of kiss she had expected. He was not reserved at all. She felt his hand slide up her arm and draw her in. She knelt down beside him. She hated how normal it felt, how inviting, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. As if she kissed him every day and _could_ kiss him every day.

The trembling tension in his body subsided and the feeling changed. Now, it wasn't just natural. It was like saving him, like her kiss was the breath of air he'd been waiting for after years of drowning.

He pulled her in even tighter and found the rocky texture of the castle bricks digging into his back. The pain meant nothing compared to the ecstasy of her kiss. Her arm hooked around his neck but he could feel her reluctance, her incredible need to run back to the castle and beg God and Ron for forgiveness.

Her arms turned as rigid as the stones that dug into him and she pushed away, her eyes wide, shocked, full of reproach and regret. A terrible wrongness had overwhelmed her.

"Oh God…" she whispered, falling back onto her hands.

He looked stunned as well, as if his eyes wanted to reach out and pull her back in. He cleared his throat and composed himself. "Well I've often been compared to a heavenly body but never with _that_ face. Looks like you might choke there, 'Mione," he joked.

"Back to being a prick, are you? What the hell was that, Draco? You scared the life out of me."

He smiled. "Worried about me, eh?"

"If you die, who do you think they're going to blame first? Me! That's who!"

"Glad to see you thinking about yourself for once," he said in a sarcastic tone.

He stood up quickly and extended a hand to help her up. "What was it, Draco?" she asked seriously, straightening her skirt.

"Were my eyes silver?"

She nodded and gulped. He seemed to contemplate it with worry.

"Then it's worse than I thought," he said. "I think I'm pregnant."

She threw her arms in the air in surrender and shouted, "You're impossible! Can't you be serious without putting me in a life-or-death situation?"

He smirked. "No. And I'm sorry to tell you I don't think you're the father," he joked.

But secretly, he worried so much that his voice had lowered in pitch. He knew something was coming. Something terrible was awakening within him. And all he could do was reach for her hand as he walked her to the stairs.

From there on, they split paths, and he had trouble letting go. He didn't want to tell her he feared going back to Slytherin, that the sheer presence of all that malevolence turned the walls of his stomach to tar… that he feared for his life knowing he betrayed them with _every_ thought he had of her.

He looked at her with begging eyes but did nothing. Their hands parted; their souls tied forever in that moment.

"Wait!" she whispered after him. He turned back towards her, his long hair whooshing with excitement at the thought that she might ask him to stay. Where, he had no clue. All the money in the world and he couldn't buy her affection, or her bed. Well maybe her bed but she definitely wouldn't come with it.

"What is it?" he asked, waiting anxiously.

"We should meet again tomorrow, early. Prep you for the challenge and all that," she said.

He nodded and left defeated. He felt foolish for wanting her. He'd never felt that way before. She returned to the tower more hopeful than ever. He hid in bed the instant he got inside.

-----

Ron was waiting for her in the common room when she came in. She was humming an eerily chipper tune when she saw his face. It made her stop mid-note. He'd been pacing, biting his fingernails like they were made of licorice and candy.

"Ron?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

It scared her to see what worrying was doing to him. "Three days, Hermione. I die in three days," he said, his hand shaking and his heart running a mile a minute.

She shook her head. "No no. I promise. You won't die. It's Malfoy. He won't kill you. He has enough trouble witty remarks. A coward, remember? This entire challenge is a farce. He was too afraid to fight Harry face to face so he goes after you."

"Oh that's lovely!" he shouted. "So he won't fight Harry but he'll fight the lackey, right? He thinks I'm an easy kill!"

"No! He won't kill you! I promise you! He's incapable of that!" she comforted, hugging him tightly. The moment her head rested on his heaving chest, it calmed. _He_ calmed. She was like catnip to him. "You know, I wanted to thank you. What you're doing is so brave, to fight for me like that."

She knew she was playing both of them like silly putty but with Ron, the guilt was never more evident. It was a hug, just a hug. She found it strange that she'd gotten farther with Draco in a few weeks than she had with Ron whom she'd known for six whole years. It was the maturity in Draco that she admired most, his charm. It was founded in evil, she knew, in the vastness of his riches, but she was drawn like a moth to a flame. She was drawn so much and so quickly that even as she hugged Ron, even as he caressed her hair and wrapped his arms around her in complete candidness, she thought of her kiss with Draco and felt like crying. She was caught in the middle. Or rather, Draco was in the middle of their hug, a veiled force tearing their friendship quietly to pieces.

-----

"Well you look horrible," she told Draco the next morning with a morbidly cheerful face under the tree. Her smile made him gag almost, it was so sweet. "Let me guess… morning sickness?"

"Ha ha," he jeered. "I couldn't sleep. Let's just say I spent a while reliving our little rendezvous on the floor."

"That's disgusting!" she said.

"Hey, it's your imagination… No I just—I just couldn't sleep. Eventful day. Lots on my mind."

"Couldn't stop thinking of me, then?"

"Yes but keep in mind there was also the topic of homicidal behavior floating around there. Don't tempt me."

She didn't like his choice of words, even when spoken in jest. They always had a double meaning. "You scare me sometimes," she said softly, contemplating his words still.

"It's alright. I scare myself. I only pray you will come to love me far before it happens."

She looked up as quick as a hummingbird. "Before what happens?" she asked.

"The irrevocable." She didn't question him after that. She knew when to stop asking. It's one of the things he liked about her. And then she realized his words. A single word in fact: love. He wanted her to love him, which was not easy for him to admit.

She realized he had a wall around his heart. Well no. All men had walls. He had a steel-reinforced fortress with 10-inch thick walls, protected by a brigade of strong imps and elves and creepy crawly things that knew their way through sewers. She imagined herself standing in front of this fortress and looking up at the highest tower, seeing Draco hidden away through a barred window. This was where she stood in real life. All she could see was that little ant-sized Draco above. She could easily open the gates, cross the drawbridge if she wanted. But she knew, from inside, there would come a flood of evil that would take her over. She couldn't save him without sacrificing a part of herself, the only part worth anything to a boy like Draco.

"You're hopeless," she said with a sigh.

"You're still here, aren't you? There's always hope in you. I find it a lovely quality."

She felt a shiver overwhelm her and let go of his hand. She looked around and saw they had ended up by the lake. It would become a symbol of their affair, she knew in that moment.

"The field is in the air, right? Well you have two ways of fighting: broom and basic flight," she pondered out loud.

"Okay?" He looked at her pace in front of him, kicking a stone back and forth. "What do you suggest, assuming you want me to win?"

"I—I dunno. I plan on giving the same information to Ron."

"Liar. You want me to win. You want to have an excuse for being with me whenever you want," he said, sitting down on the wet morning grass. It had not snowed heavily this Christmas. Most of the snow was melting now. He thought Dumbledore had something to do with it but could prove nothing nor would there be any point. He liked the chill of the cool air in the morning. He loved sitting back and watching her move in the dawning light. It was still slightly dim. Her white skin seemed to glow to him and the more he watched, the more she became the target again and all else seemed to melt into the background.

He found he couldn't close his eyes. They would soon turn pure liquid silver again. He felt ashamed, having his feelings so in the open. So, he forced his hand to slip and his back touched the cool grass. His eyes saw the sky and the looming clouds and he thought he was drowning again, drowning in the grey. He covered his face with his hands but even they could not save him.

And then he felt her sit beside him and look up at the sky as well. Now, he wasn't just drowning. He was being taken to the clouds, floating. He made a small choking noise and said, "You have no idea what you do to me, 'Mione."

She scrunched up her nose. There was double meaning in that as well. She got tired of his elusiveness, his ambiguity. "Draco, stop this," she said, turning on her side in the grass, leaning her head on her elbow. She was very sure her entire back was sopping wet from the dew and rain but could care less.

"Stop what?" He danced around her questions.

"Hiding! Show me your eyes. Now, Mr. Malfoy," she shouted, pulling one hand off his face. He used his other to cover both eyes and laughed. He blinked furiously fast under his hand, trying to send the silver away. She wasn't buying his act, he knew. "Show them to me, now!"

He moved his hand, praying to a mocking God that the silver had gone. But no. There were still traces. She looked at him with pity, it seemed. "You shouldn't have to hide from me," she said, caressing his cheek with a gentle hand.

"It's all I know to do, I'm afraid. You can't fight what's inside you."

"Well of course you can. You just shouldn't. Tell me what it is."

"You're clever. Figure it out," he said sternly.

"Draco!" she yelled, taking her hand away and jumping up onto her feet. "If you want any help at all from me, you'll tell me right now!"

He sat up on the grass and looked up at her. The world was still foggy. "If I tell you, you'll leave."

"Well that's just ridiculous!" she shouted, pacing again in thoughtful steps, staring at her shoes as she did. "Are you a werewolf then? No they hate silver. Are you a banshee? No they're women. It must be a curse then or some sort of--"

He felt his heart rush out of his throat onto the grass. She knew, he thought. If she did, it was all over. She would hate him.

But she said nothing. What she knew, she kept. He smiled for a moment, lovingly watching her genius at work. "Stop it," he said softly, extending an arm for her to sit beside him again and stop the drowning. He loved how her sheer presence could make him feel better.

"Tell me what's wrong with you. How can I help?" she begged. She had an incredible thirst and he was drowning. It was a perfect union every time they kissed.

"There's nothing wrong with me, Hermione. It's you that's doing this to me. But it's natural. It's supposed to happen. I just never expected it'd be with you," he said faintly.

"Natural? I was there when you started _seizing_ yesterday. That was _not_ natural. That was ridiculously scary!"

He chuckled a bit. She worried for him. It was a lovely sensation, to have someone care for him. "Hermione, you know about my family, right? They're not the best family. Evil is bred, not born. And some long time ago, we were bred not only with men but with monsters, grave monsters that sought whatever advantage could be taken from normal men."

"Draco, are you telling me you're not entirely human?"

"No one really is in our world. But to survive, my family was bred with a certain type of beast."

She interrupted, fearing the worst. "Oh Lord, I wasn't far off on the werewolf thing, was I? Vampire, maybe? Or…"

"Veela," he whispered.

She shut up so fast that her throat stopped making noise with her mouth still open. When she tried to speak again some moments of dooming thought later, she found herself squeaking her words. She cleared her throat and composed herself. "But… But Veelas… They mate for life. One of the signs is--"

"Silver eyes? Blonde, sleek hair? Being incredibly dashing is big on Veelas too. Whatever attracts prey."

"No no. One of the signs they've found their mate is seizures and—and… I'm—I'm your mate? Are you freakin' kidding me?" It came out louder than she had expected. Fear was a sign that the worst was yet to come. People did irrational things when afraid, even run from those that needed them most.

"Hermione, please…" he said calmly, caressing her arm. She pulled away quickly. She seemed disgusted, though she truly wasn't. He knew this. Hermione was very understanding of his heritage and the things that had been implanted into his head by his family, but she couldn't quite accept that she was stuck with this boy for the rest of her life. This was not an option she was given. This was not an option she was ready to take. She started to convulse and hyperventilate. She hated being cornered. She hated to think she had brought this on herself.

And then it hit her that fate had brought this upon her. Mates were chosen at birth. He had done nothing. If anything, they had been brought together by this attraction. This is why she had found herself in that hallway, why she had helped him despite their history.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, getting up and walking away from him, straight into the lake. She didn't even realize it till she tripped in the mud, all the while whispering her denial.

He ran to help her up but she was, as of that instant, broken.

-----

Hermione had walked away from the lake, demanding some time and space. She couldn't face him. His eyes were a constant reminder of their choking bond. She didn't talk to him in class. She didn't even look at him in Potions. She spoke to Ron now. He was all that would exist after the challenge, she was determined to make sure. He had to win. She had to convince herself that she didn't belong to Draco. Unfortunately, the challenge meant nothing now. Even if Ron won, she would always be Draco's the way a childhood romance would never leave her mind, the way her first kiss with Krum would never leave her.

She didn't realize, of course, that there was a hidden power to Veelas. It was not just blind fate. Fate has a way, when it becomes biological, to force upon them a union. She didn't know it but the more she fought to forget Draco, the more her body and her mind would yearn for him. She was only killing herself softly.

But Draco knew this. He knew it was going to hurt her. This was why he could never part from her, even if she never wanted to be with him. He knew, with time, she would come to him again. He only hoped his fate had not been cruel and he would not mature before that time. If a Veela is denied a mate after too long, he begins to die of desire. He couldn't imagine it, but he knew it would hurt just as much to be without her a single instant.

That night, neither could sleep. The challenge was in two days and Ron was the only one getting any rest at all. Even Harry was having some trouble with it. He still mourned Sirius, she knew. He relived every moment of it in his head. To have happiness and lose it so quickly… she supposed she empathized, not just because it was Harry but because she had been happy for just an instant before she became this shell of the Hermione they had known, before she found out the truth of their fate.

"You know, it would help to have you with us, Hermione," Ron said. It snapped her out of her dooming train of thought. "What's the matter with you? You're off in your own world lately."

"It's a very lonely world, Ron," she responded, still dazed by her thoughts.

He had of course no clue what she was talking about. Draco must have overheard because she _felt_ him smile across the room. She stared at her bubbling potion, thinking this was the longest day of her life, which was marvelous since she only had 3 before the grand challenge. She started to think maybe if she helped Ron, the guilt of leaving Draco would go away but it just made it worse.

Every cell in her body told her to go running back to him. She hated leaving him alone. She felt his loneliness in such a way that it hurt her physically. Her chest wanted to cave. She wondered if this was the Veela bond, and what else she had been dismissing as her emotions.

On the way out of class, Draco made sure to bump into Harry. "Watch it, Potter!" he yelled with his usual scorn.

"You hit _me_, Malfoy," Harry yelled back. "What is it with you? Can't you even walk in a straight line anymore? Do we have to draw the line in the floor?"

"What's this? Potter's finally grown some balls? If I'd known that, I would have challenged _you_."

Hermione came up behind Harry, followed by Ron, who noticed the shouting and instantly stood beside Harry. Hermione looked so tired behind the boys. Draco looked at her and the world melted again. He looked back to Ron to try to stop it but it was already starting to take effect, quicker now that pain of loss quickened the effect.

"Well you didn't. You challenged me," Ron said. "So save your petty squabbling for then. You got your fight. Stop this stupidity."

"Maybe it's not enough," Draco whispered. "Maybe I should just take you out right here."

"As if you could!" Harry yelled, getting in-between the two. Draco still only saw Hermione in the back. He wondered if others could see his eyes or if it was just her.

But no. Ron saw it. "What are you on, Malfoy?" he said, truly astonished.

"I'm drunk, you idiot. It's the fumes from you people. Your sheer existence is making me sick." Hermione hated that he spoke of her, not them. She knew it. His words always played tricks on the receiver.

Ginny saw Hermione's face in the crowd like she was going to vomit. She made her way to her and tried to take her aside but Hermione broke through and rushed through the people to Draco, pushing Ron and Harry aside.

"Whatever you want, it's going to happen at the challenge," she said through gritted teeth, pushing him. He grabbed her hand and slipped a paper into her fist. She wondered if this was what he wanted all along. "Get away from us, Malfoy. We're in no mood for silly fights with silly boys who have nothing better to do."

With that, she took the note and turned and stormed to the tower before going to her next class. Ginny tried to go after her but Harry held her back with a gentle hand and a kind smile. He knew there was something going on with them, just didn't know what.

She didn't even get to the portrait of the fat lady before she opened the note:

_Darling,_

_Don't do this to me. It's only been hours and I already feel loss. Without you, I feel like I'm drowning, like I'm trapped in a glass box that's slowly filling with water and nobody seems to care. Please. I can't be alone through this. Meet me tonight in the astronomy tower. We have two nights before the challenge and the Mark is growing stronger. Bring your charms and I'll bring mine. _

_Eccentrically yours,_

_Draco. _

-----

That night, she escaped the tower under the pretense that she was looking up something in the library. Harry lent her his cloak and she scurried off to the astronomy tower. She hated having to hide from her friends. She'd reached the stairs to the tower before she realized how eager she was to see him again. She calmed her aching heart and stepped up inside. She saw him through the fibers of the cloak, just stood there watching him pace. He was in his black cloak, which made him look absolutely dashing. As he paced, it swooshed under him like a cape. He looked regal. He'd stopped sleeking his hair back. It looked like he'd just gotten out of the shower so it was still wet and long and drooped over his eyes in spikes.

She had never felt longing like this. Ron was not exactly a sex object and they fought like wolves over the simplest thing. Viktor had a unibrow and couldn't pronounce her name if pixies were beating him over the head until he did. Draco was an asshole, but man was he bloody sexy. She didn't know if she'd whimpered or something but Draco raised a hand to his chest and looked over to her. It was as if he could feel her heat.

She quickly moved out of the way, down the stairs, and pulled off the cloak, pretending she'd just walked in. Her guilty, devious smile did not fool him.

"Hey," he said softly, watching her come up in jeans and a black top. She was so simple and yet, this was his mate. He had never considered himself simple. If anything, he spent years convincing himself he was God.

"Hey," she responded. "I've been thinking about uh… everything."

"And?" he asked, extending a hand to help her climb the last stone step. She jumped up and nearly tripped. Her hands ended on his chest. She whimpered again. The tension was getting stronger now that she knew. She couldn't deny it.

"And I think—I think it's ok."

"What do you mean it's ok?"

"I mean it's something I could grow to accept, once we leave Hogwarts."

He scoffed. "So you mean you don't want anyone finding out, is that it?"

She couldn't tell if he was hurt by her statement, just that he couldn't look her in the eye. For all she knew, he was happy she said it first. The Draco she knew would have fought like a freakin' gladiator to keep it a secret. Maybe part of the Veela curse demanded else of him.

"Draco, it's what's best. We could ignite a war between the houses."

He nodded but stifled a gulp. He wanted to ask her something, she knew. Or, he was hiding something, which was worse. Last time he hid something from her, she found out she might as well be married for eternity. Truth was, she still didn't even know much about the Veelas' curse. Was it even a curse?

"So what is it we're hiding here?" he asked. Her heart started beating so loud, she thought he could hear it. It got so loud, she thought she heard an echo. She wondered if that wasn't her anxious heart alone. Maybe it was his too, desperately awaiting an answer.

It seemed her stomach had emptied out and she was pretty sure she wanted to vomit. She gulped and moved closer. She wasn't sure why. It was an instinct. "I don't know what it is we have here, Draco. For some reason, it feels…"

"Natural?"

She nodded but her face told him otherwise. It was the sick feeling that made her grimace, not the thought of them, but he didn't understand. He went to part but she became desperate to show how she felt. She pulled him in by the collar and kissed him, not lightly as before but distraughtly, like he would disappear into a million pieces if she didn't kiss him… like her kiss was the only thing keeping him attached to this world.

The adrenaline reached his eyes and the silver began to take over. It overflowed and the magic of the curse seemed to pass on through his skin in the form of cold right onto her lips, through their intertwined hands. It reached her throat and dried it like she'd just taken in a blizzard. She pushed off and gasped for breath but even that had turned silver and crystallized before her in a soft cloud that condensed and fell to the ground with a clinking sound.

She was scared, he could tell, but they didn't break hands. Their fingers had found each other without either realizing. He tightened his grip, raised an eyebrow, and looked at her deviously as he tried to catch his breath.

"This is ridiculous," she said softly, circling his lips like a vulture. They longed for hers so much it was like two magnets drawn together by opposite forces. She fought but her body was pressed up against his against the edge of the stone tower. She realized the invisibility cloak was still in her left hand. "Let's get out of here."

She threw it over both their heads and walked off the tower quickly, giggling as his hand rounded her waist to help her down the rough steps. They passed by the library first, into the restricted section. She knew almost exactly what books to get. She was a library in and of herself. She took them past the grounds next, near the base of the Whomping Willow, into the Shrieking Shack.

"How did you know about this place?" he asked, astounded by the solitude. They pulled off the cloak and Hermione took out her wand. With a simple spell, the dust was sent flying out the window into the atmosphere. They heard the willow sneeze in the distance and smiled.

"Well…" she began awkwardly. The pull had subsided just a bit. Her stomach had settled.

"Well…" he repeated, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Why did we stop off for books?"

A smile came to her face. She conjured up some pillows from the wooden planks thrown about and made them a small nook to read.

"We're going to read?" he asked.

"On Veelas."

"Granger, you sure know how to throw a party." But she didn't notice his sarcastic remark. She'd already found herself against the large pillows on the floor holding a book up to read. She kicked one to him, sliding it across the room, and looked at him pleadingly over the top rim of her book. He sighed, curled up next to her, and let her rest her head against him as they read. He had to admit, it felt marvelous. Calming.

She fell asleep first, halfway through her third book. He had too many inner demons to rest. He closed his book, which he had actually found ridiculously interesting (especially the chapter on the mating rituals of Veelas), and drew her into his hug on the floor with the dust still flying through the air. He loved not having to worry about the outside world.

This world was small. But it was theirs. For the night, he had peace.

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE:**

--What's going to happen in the challenge?

--Who will get hurt in the battle for Hermione's heart?

--How else will the Veela curse reach her?

--What inner demons is Draco hiding?

--How will the Shrieking Shack come into play?

--How much do Harry and Ginny know about Hermione and Draco's affair?

--Will Hermione truly accept Draco as her one and only mate?

--And, how long before this all blows up in their face?

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	3. The First Night

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART THREE

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_If you haven't already, add me to your story alert list and get notified every time I post._

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When Hermione woke, Draco was not beside her in the shack. The dust seemed to have resettled overnight and the books had been returned to their spots at the library. Her cloak was neatly folded by her shoes on the floor. She hated sleeping with her shoes on. In the distance, she heard a whooshing sound like a cape flapping in the wind and the taunting screams of what could have been a bull rider.

She ran outside, to the Whomping Willow, and looked up at the small green figure trying to escape its branches. It had to be Draco. His blonde hair was like a beacon against the strong reds and yellows of the sunrise upon the horizon.

She pulled out her wand and forced the Willow to stop. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" she screamed, mainly at the sight of a large gash across one of his cheeks. The bruises on his skin were so evident, it scared her. "Dear God, boy, you bruise like a peach."

He raised an eyebrow and dismounted before her. He smiled brightly. She hadn't seen him like this in quite some time, if ever. Maybe the Mark had calmed. Maybe he'd had a small shred of peace. And then he spoke. "You look horrible in the morning," he said blatantly. "It looks like a nest of crows decided to take refuge on your head."

Her hair and her irritated eyes did not stop him from kissing her hello, on the cheek, but his enthusiasm was so refreshing she couldn't help smile back. "Good morning to you too, Draco."

He took in a deep breath and looked around, marveled by the colors of the sky. "It's a new dawn, Hermione! It's a new day."

"Yes, and we're running out of days. I take it you were practicing." He nodded. She seemed to scold him almost. She hated being like that but she worried, a lot. The challenge was no silly thing. She started thinking he was actually much better than Ron in the sky. "You said Ron picked the sky field?"

"Yes and rather quickly too," he responded, heading back to the castle with broom in hand. "I think Dumbledore knew he was making a mistake. I was surprised he didn't tell him to rethink his choice. He didn't say anything at all actually."

She followed. "He's a good man. He has his own plans, his own agenda, but it's always for the best."

Draco stopped walking, suddenly looking very pale. "Is he that good a man, Hermione? Or is he just a man?"

She knew there was a secret meaning and she knew not to question it. "You never know. Maybe he's in your corner after all… Wait! Do you think he knows about us?"

He gave a sharp laugh and kept moving. "What's there to know? There is no 'us.' Not yet." She felt the old Draco resurface, felt ashamed to have thought that Draco gone. He stopped when he saw she wasn't following him. "Hermione, come on," he called.

"I think you should go on ahead," she said softly.

He could feel what she felt and yet he couldn't bring himself to apologize, to tell her he felt for her now more than she really knew. There was an attraction. That was obvious. There had been caring moments. But he could not admit to love. Love was something he fought to have but thought he could never achieve. To admit to love was to lose it prematurely. But he supposed there were ways of letting her know he cared. Caresses mostly. The night before, in his arms as he stroked her hair, she knew there was love. And then he thought of ways to tell her without using words, without caresses.

"Come here," he said, a tad sweeter. He took her hand in his and placed it over his heart. "Do you hear that?"

She nodded, unsure of what he was doing. "Are we having a Tarzan moment, here? I hope you know you're Jane. I look better in a loincloth," she joked.

He dropped his broom, put his hand over her heart and closed his eyes. "Do you feel that?" he asked.

"Your heartbeat?" she said, irritated.

"No. Close your eyes and find that little flicker of light. That's me." And with that, she began to feel a warmth spread from his hand to her shoulders, down her arms… her entire body felt almost tingly.

"How are you doing this?" she asked.

"I'm not a kind person, Hermione, not the way you're used to. But if you ever come to doubt what it means for you to be my mate, come to doubt how I feel for you, close your eyes and find that light. It's but a shadow of what we will become."

"It'll get stronger? The feeling?"

"Unfortunately, it will get so strong that it will haunt you in your waking moments, in your dreams. It's just a reminder, Hermione. Soon, you'll want the real thing so much it will overpower anything else," he said sadly, taking his hand away and picking up his broom again.

She knew there was truth to his words. She could feel it even now. His hand on her chest had left like a fingerprint of warmth. She longed for it again, for his touch. "Where do you come up with stuff like that?" she asked. "Honestly, man. You take all romanticism out of the question. So I'll want you so bad, it'll hurt? That's hardly inspiring."

He looked at her with his cold smile. "It's not about romance, Hermione. That little feeling is called lust. Veelas want sex, to reproduce. That's all. And it's not just you. You're the mate. I'm the Veela. It'll come a time when I will want you so badly, it'll physically hurt me. If we don't consummate by the time the Veela instinct mature… well, you might as well kill me."

She knew he wasn't kidding. She knew from her books that the Veela curse was not meant to be played. It could not be escaped and very few things could suppress it. She saw it as a positive thing. Even if it meant being with a person she'd hated for so long, a person that could make her hurt with the simplest words, it took away the uncertain and the pointless dance of courtship. No wonder she had fallen for Draco in so little time, she pondered on the way to the castle beside him. It was nice being able to admit to a feeling. He could never admit to love but he could admit to that feeling, to lust.

She started to play with the true meaning of mates in her head. She turned to him, grabbed his hand, and joked joyously, "So does this mean you want me?"

"What?" he asked callously.

"You do. You want me."

"It's kind of biological. I really can't help it."

"Pfft. Sure you can't. But you must admit… you want me."

He didn't really like that she didn't take it seriously. She was acting like a child to him. He was going to be in excruciating physical need soon. He didn't realize what she meant. There could not be physical bond without emotion. But he stopped her again on the dirt road, clutched her hand, and looked at her seriously. "I want you," he said tenderly. "I want to be able to love you. I want to be able to kiss you and not feel ashamed or the constant reminder that what I feel is wrong. Because to us, it's natural but to the world, it's an evil need."

"Not after the challenge though, is it?"

"What?" he asked. He hadn't even thought of the challenge. It was hard to think of anything but her in her presence.

"That's why you started the challenge, isn't it? You wanted a reason to be with me out in the world, not hiding in old shacks," she said, suddenly feeling his loneliness as her own. He didn't respond. She could feel he was in real pain, not just over her. The Mark was getting stronger. And soon, there would be pressures beyond either's control.

-----

When Draco got to the Slytherin common room, he suddenly forgot his troubles with Hermione… forgot to breathe. "Father?" he asked of the tall man in with blonde hair facing the fireplace. He turned around and Draco thought the Mark was going to burn through his skin.

"Good morning, son. Might I ask where the hell you were last night?" Lucius asked, his jaw set and stern.

Draco stifled a gulp with a cough and avoided his father's eyes at all cost. "I spent it with a girl, father." He knew it was best not to lie. It would only get him in more trouble.

"A girl? You know better than to cloud your focus from the true objective."

"It meant nothing, sir. I'm using _her_, not the other way around," he lied anyway, setting his broom onto one of the lavish sofas. "Now I take it you've heard of the challenge or else you wouldn't be here."

"I was proud to hear you'd entered in a challenge. I'm only disappointed you're fighting the Weasley boy. Honestly, Draco, with all I've taught you. There is better prey out there."

Draco stood up again. He was not in the mood for one of his father's rants over his uselessness. "It'll keep them occupied, it'll get me closer to Dumbledore, and it's not like I could challenge Potter. He's not mine to kill. Consider it target practice, father. Now if you would, I desperately need a shower and a nurse for some of these gashes," he said, trying to lead his father away.

"Your girl's a minx, is she? Be careful. You know how your mother can get during mating season."

Draco raised an eyebrow. He really wished he didn't know but when Veelas go into seasonal heat, it was hard as a child to walk into a room without seeing some very inappropriate things. "I think I've found her, sir," he said timidly.

"Found her? Your mate?" Lucius sounded a bit too surprised. Fathers never expect their children to grow. It just happens. "You know to be careful with your attachment, yes?"

"I know father. She knows it's only physical." He prayed his father bought it. He prayed he wasn't just lying to himself. He promised himself long ago that it would not be like that with his mate. He realized what an ass he'd been to Hermione to deny her romance. He hated that he was turning into his father. There had once been an age when he cared for nothing more but now, it disgusted him because he knew it was not the kind of man Hermione could love.

"I'll be back tomorrow for the challenge."

"You're observing?" Draco felt his throat collapse but didn't say a thing. He couldn't back down from the challenge mid-fight. He had to win, if not for Hermione and if not for himself, for his father who would not let his son go home without his prize.

-----

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked of Ginny, who searched through her trunk quietly.

She instantly jumped up, her face complete with guilt and shame. "Nothing!" she yelled then rethought her words. "What did he give you today, Hermione?"

Hermione went and shut the trunk loudly. Some of the other girls jumped up and whispered among themselves. Some left in a hurry, possibly to tell the others. "Did the others see?"

"No. But I grew up with Fred and George. I know how to hide a message and I know how not to get caught. You did it poorly," she said, sitting on the bed.

Hermione didn't know what she was going to do. "Are you going to tell the boys?" she asked awkwardly as she went to sit beside her.

Ginny looked angry, more so than worried. "Why shouldn't I? What makes you think I haven't already? Hermione, what are you doing? He could kill Ron and no one could do a thing about it. He's evil."

Hermione could not help but smile at her final word. "Evil, yes. But there's nothing I can do, Ginny. He and I are bound."

"Oh my God… you've slept with him?"

Hermione laughed. "No, don't worry. It doesn't have to come to that yet."

"Has he done something to all of a sudden make you… stupid? What do you mean come to that yet? It should never have come to that! He's an evil, sniveling little parasite! No, pardon me. A ferret. A vile rodent that lives to make Harry and everyone else's life miserable." She ranted until she lost breath.

Ginny had nothing too personal against Draco. Hermione knew it had to do with Harry. Ginny was the kind of girl that defended her friends above all reason because she treasured them so. She treasured _Harry_ so.

"You don't understand Ginny. It's not like that. It didn't start out like that but now…"

Ginny made a noise like a car engine sputtering to a stop. "Now what? Are you telling me you love him?"

Hermione suddenly looked very tired. "No. Not love. But I care for him, much more than I ever thought I could… Please, Gin. Keep this between us for now. You don't know everything. You don't know what it means to be--"

"In love? I know, Hermione! Above all else, _that_ I know."

"No. Fated. You have choice. I have nothing but pain without him."

-----

Ginny had promised to keep Hermione's secret but she didn't know about the Veela curse. She didn't know about the Mark or the time they spent together during Christmas. And she didn't know about the feeling or the kisses or the way he smelled against her atop the pillows.

_Oh no_, she thought. _The urges are starting._

It was the third day. Tomorrow, the challenge would begin, and already she felt the connection. He should never have told her. It only sped things up. Now, she longed for the connection to strengthen, to be with him. Everything else had become secondary, even her studies. She hated herself for abandoning them but when she was with Draco, it just seemed to fade into the background and the guilt disappeared.

And then she saw Ron in the Great Hall, who looked sicker and paler than ever. His freckles now seemed to burst off his skin like chickenpox. His hair was greasy, like he'd been sweating a lot lately. He was anxious beyond reason, jumpy at the first word in his direction, but Hermione could not tell him his life was safe. He couldn't know of her time with Draco or his promise. She couldn't even be sure of his word. She wanted to trust him because of the curse, because if he was right about the feeling and the urges maybe he was right about this too… but no. He was, by his very own definition, conniving. But the truth was that he had never lied to _her_ in the time they'd been together. It was easy to hate the personification of evil. It was NOT easy to hate the person.

She couldn't even sit down. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran out before even crossing the entrance to the Great Hall. Draco saw her go and looked over to the Gryffindor table. Ron hadn't even noticed her come in but Ginny, who sat beside him, stared Draco down like she was reaching for a dagger in her back pocket and was about to jump him for his wallet in a dark alley.

He wanted to go after her but couldn't. Slytherin house was staring him down. He felt their eyes on his skin, eating at him, and gulped loudly. He saw Snape had come walking into the Hall past him and calmly got up and told him they needed to talk. Neither seemed very up for private talks but surely enough, Snape told him to go to his office and that he'd be along in 10 minutes, and that he had something to speak to Dumbledore about first.

Draco nodded and made his way to Snape's office. Twenty minutes later, Dumbledore and Snape walked through the door. Draco had begun shaking and biting his nails. He figured he picked up the habit from Hermione.

"Mr. Malfoy, we meet again," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes. Draco stared straight at him, refusing to blink. "It seems there's something you neglected to tell me last you were in my office."

He looked over to Snape like he'd betrayed him. Or maybe not. Maybe he was trying to give him the opportunity with Dumbledore. The more the headmaster trusted him, the closer he got to him and the easier it would be to kill him. Draco felt the Mark sizzle under his shirt.

He noticed it'd been a while since he answered him. Both professors awaited an answer. "He's talking about Ms. Granger, Draco. I suggest you speak with him before it eats at you further." Snape gestured for him to speak, to continue what they'd begun in the Great Hall. But Draco had not told Snape about Hermione. No one knew, he thought.

"How did you know about her?" he asked.

"About the Veela curse? Of course I know. I speak with your mother and father often, Draco. Your father told me this morning you'd found your mate. It was obvious after that."

Dumbledore had been watching Draco's reaction. He knew he thought they were there for something else. He knew Draco had other demons on his back. But he said nothing of it. Instead, he began, "Draco, I wish you'd come to me with this sooner. You did not have to resort to challenges."

Draco smirked at his foolishness, full of scorn. "Don't you dare," he said through gritted teeth. Snape looked slightly scared. "Don't you dare think I resorted to the challenge. Don't think I had a choice. You have no clue what it means to feel what I do, to be in the situation I've been put in…"

"I know what it is to care for someone, Draco. I can never have what you have, but I know love. And love is greater than what you're feeling, my boy. It's a greater death, for the soul," Dumbledore replied calmly.

Draco turned to Snape. "Leave us," he said. Snape looked to Dumbledore who did not take his eyes off Draco over his glasses. It was like he was reading him with a smirk. Seeing no other option, Snape left his own office. Dumbledore sat down in front of Draco and awaited his explanation.

Draco lifted up his shirt and revealed the Mark.

He found himself begging to leave Slytherin, not for Hermione but for his own fears. If they found out he was in any way involved with a Mudblood Gryffindor, that would be the end of him. If Voldemort found out, he'd become a target. His life might be in danger. He cursed Hermione in his head. She'd ruined… everything.

"I think I know how to help you. Tomorrow's the challenge. After you win, I'll transfer you out of the dormitories."

"That's not going to help, Professor. How do you even know I'll win?"

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "If you don't know you've already won, you're not as smart as you think you are."

"What?" he asked.

"You'll figure it out soon enough. In the meanwhile, you'll be moved from Slytherin and kept as a political guest of the castle. In two days, after the challenge, I'll move you and Ms. Granger elsewhere to one of my contacts, as far away as possible."

"Move us? Hide us away?"

"Well yes. If you expect to survive once Slytherin House and Voldemort find out. I assure you. What you two have will not be easily hidden. After all, it'll soon begin to affect your dreams then your classes. There's no way to hide from it."

Draco looked deathly. "But…" he said. "It's Hermione. She'll never leave the school. Never!"

"You'll be surprised what a mate will do for the man she loves. If you want to survive, you'll leave now," the professor begged.

"She doesn't love me yet. She has no reason to go. I only found out myself a month ago. She found out yesterday," he thought out loud.

Dumbledore leaned back in the chair and stroked his beard. "Without her, you'll die."

"I know," Draco said softly. "I have 2 days to make her love me, then."

Dumbledore wasn't sure he liked that. "Do _you_ love her yet?" he asked as if it were a legitimate question to answer. Draco did not see it as such, mainly because he wasn't sure. "I'm familiar with your father's philosophy on love and mating from when he was a student here. It was not a speech one can forget."

Draco looked so tired. He hadn't gotten any real sleep in some time. But what he said, he meant. "I cannot tell you if I love her because frankly, I can't tell one feeling from another. They all tear at me in different directions. The Mark, my Lord, my father, my teachers, and now Hermione… I do believe one thing though. I love being with her. I care for her so much more than I should. I don't know if it's love but I can already feel death coming every instant she's away. I will never become my father, but love-- I don't know if I can ever be capable of that."

-----

Leaving the office, he felt Hermione calling him in his thoughts. It was getting late. The call got stronger at night. He'd spent the day planning with Dumbledore his grand escape. He just hoped he lived to see it. He went to the tree where the challenge had been struck. He wasn't sure why. His mind was lost in thought and worry and yet his feet just led him to her. She was pacing under the tree, biting her nails. He smiled when he saw her, thinking of how close they'd gotten in so little time that they'd picked up each other's habits without even noticing. He wondered if that was a sign of love, but he still didn't know what it was. He was still looking for it in her eyes.

When he reached her under the tree, he didn't bother to look around at the empty fields before pinning her against the rough trunk and smelling her, just smelling her. The scent of her perfume was so strong to him, it burnt his nostrils.

"Since when do you wear perfume?" he asked, running the tip of his nose gently down her throat. He could tell she was a little scared but his touch seemed to calm her. She exhaled heavily and let his hand slid under her shirt and cloak to her back, drawing her closer to him.

She laughed lightly when he kissed the base of her neck and clavicle lightly. She looked around and saw they were alone but she knew that wouldn't be permanent. "I don't know. I guess I was hoping you'd notice," she said, running her hand through his hair.

"I did. It's horrible. Never wear it again."

"I dunno. It seems to ignite the desired effect," she said with a smile as he moved his kisses back up from her neck to her lips. "Draco, stop. This is ridiculous."

He didn't stop, not even to breathe.

"Draco, stop!" she yelled, pushing him off. It wasn't that she didn't want his kisses, because there's nothing she wanted more. "This isn't like you!"

He looked suddenly sad, looking down into her eyes. His hair was getting longer so it covered his own sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Hermione. It's the--"

"I know. It's ok," she said quickly, composing herself. The last thing she wanted was to make him feel ashamed of what he naturally desired.

"It's getting stronger," he said, taking her hand and leading her to the lake. It was marvelous at night, when the air was cool and the breeze was plentiful. "I hardly slept last night, and it was because of your company that I slept at all."

She liked hearing that but she wasn't sure why. She liked hearing she affected him, but after the stunt by the tree, it was obvious. She wondered just how obvious it was. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Just for a walk. I wanted to spend some time with you."

"I didn't see you in class today. I worried," she said, staring at her feet as she walked. He took her hand again and kept another hidden in his outer pocket. She noticed he hardly looked at his feet. Even when deep in thought, he looked forward with pride.

"I think I felt it. I was speaking with Dumbledore most of the day, making arrangements."

She hated his ambiguity. "Arrangements for what, might I ask?" And then he looked down. For the first time, he looked down. "Draco?" she nudged.

"Hermione, in two days, I leave Hogwarts," he said blatantly but reluctantly. "I want you to come with me."

-----

"Are you freakin' insane?" she yelled out into the expanse of the lake. He had finished explaining his escape, his plans with Dumbledore… what would happen if he left her behind.

"I'd die, Hermione! You'd spend the rest of your life alone without me! There's no one else _biologically_ out there for either of us!" he yelled back.

She raised an eyebrow. "Wanna bet?" she growled, turning as if to storm back to the castle. He grabber her arm, knowing what she was planning to do.

"Don't you dare do that. You'd kill us both."

She pulled her arm away. "Don't tell me what to do! You think because there's no one else, I'll give a damn?" she said, calming down. Rage had subsided. Slow tears now took over. "I'm a bookworm! There's nothing sadder and lonelier than that! I'm more than prepared to spend the rest of my life alone, if need be."

He felt the hysteria rising inside her. Her voice seemed to croak at her last words, her final realization that Draco was all she had from now on. It hadn't struck her before, not like this, the complete helplessness inevitability. Just before she started hyperventilating, he pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her. Her hands rested on his chest, feeling him breathe. Despite the curse, despite the pressures, he was so calm and vulnerable. She knew this was serious. She knew they were a stone's throw away from goodbye.

And then he did something she had not expected at all. He lifted her chin up to face him and whispered, "I miss you."

"I haven't gone anywhere."

"You're leaving me right now. You're doubting this—us. It's like you've left me."

"Draco, there's no space between us right now. I haven't gone anywhere."

"Really? Prove it?"

She knew he was playing at something but went along. "Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to prove I'm still physically here?"

"Well if you see something it's here. I see you just fine. If you hear—and half of Scotland can hear your whining. If you smell—and I smell you just fine. If you taste something—" he said and lowered his face to kiss her.

It was the loveliest kiss he'd ever given her, long and sweet. She felt like he was saying goodbye, like he wanted her to remember him in that kiss. She also knew, because it was goodbye, he'd pull away and leave and she'd never be happy again. So, when he went to part from their kiss, she shed a single tear and discarded her old life with it.

She took him by the collar, set her jaw, and whispered, "You forgot touch."

"What?" he asked, taken by surprise. He was ready to leave.

"The fifth sense. You forgot touch," she said sweetly and caressed his cheek. Her hand moved slowly from his cheek to his neck to his shirt, and quite smoothly, she undid his tie and the top buttons on his shirt.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" he asked, honestly perplexed.

"What we have deserves more than a kiss goodbye," she said and pushed back his cloak. It fell to the ground by his feet, marking the beginning. She knew she couldn't go back now.

"Hey, look, you know I'm always up for this but…" he began but she interrupted him with a kiss. "Hermione, we're outside!"

"It's dark. Everyone's at dinner. It's just us and the lake monster," she said, trying to sound seductive.

"I don't trust the squid," he said, squinting at the lake. "I once had a 12-minute conversation with him about the secrets of the universe. He revealed them to me, but then I think I slipped in the bathtub and forgot it all. He's never talked to me again."

She knew he was just trying to avoid what she was offering because he knew it was something she'd never suggest under different circumstances. "Draco, I want you," she said earnestly, moving his eyes back to her.

"No no, love. That's just my insanity rubbing off. You know, I think insanity is like alcohol. It should never be enjoyed alone," he said, trying now more than ever to avoid her eyes.

"DRACO!" she finally yelled, moving away towards the lake. "Do you want me?"

He suddenly looked very sad, like a mouse at the end of a maze realizing there's no more cheese and no more maze. "I want you more than anything," he responded, sincerely.

She stepped back further towards the lake, into the water completely dressed, and opened her arms out to him as if saying she was all his. Draco stopped and looked at her, making his final decision. She waited for him so elegantly, with her cloak afloat around her. She looked like a maiden of the lake, surreal in the bright moonlight. And then he saw her hair which looked messier than usual from having her pinned against the tree and laughed softly.

He finished taking off his tie and threw it to the ground, took off his shirt as quickly as he could manage, and ran into the water in his knickers, knocking her over in joy. The water was freezing but they didn't care. It was calm and silent and the lake monster was off sleeping in his secret corner of the lake floor.

Her cloak was soon set afloat and her shirt—well he never managed to get her shirt off. It was too freezing to bother. He undid her buttons with a single hand as he kissed her. She made a note to remind herself to ask him how many times he'd practiced that trick before. The anticipation was killing him. He wanted it to mean something to her but the instinct to have her was so strong that it took the force of every cell in his body to go slow.

Hermione found herself on her back in the water, her arms floating calmly above her, as he kissed her from her neck to bosom, to her abdomen, to the very rim of her skirt. She wrapped her legs around his torso to tell him to go on. She wasn't floating off anywhere. And with that, he pulled them both under the dark waters, where not a single wandering eye could see what he had dreamed of doing to her every minute of his waking state the last few weeks.

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR:**

--Does Draco leave Hogwarts alone?

--Who is Dumbledore's contact?

--Do Hermione and Draco ever christen this room Dumbledore promised?

--Where will they spend the other 19 nights?

--How long before Ron finds them?

--What will happen during the challenge?

--What makes Hermione turn from Draco?

--And, how long before somebody dies?

-----------------------------------------------------------

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**_The Gamble _is calling…**


	4. Tail Spin

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART FOUR

-----

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ Please keep in mind the metaphorical representations in plot and in the dreams. They will hint you to events in the chapters that follow. And note that since it's "20 Sinful Nights," they do have sex at the end of the chapter and every night that follows the first night read last chapter, even if it does not necessarily or directly say so. You get that the events kind of lead to it. Oh! I also had to delete a few curse words but Ron gets pissed near the end. Just imagine he gets REALLY pissed. Thank you. _

–_Gracie. _

-----

Their night had not ended there. Too sleepy to make it all the way to Gryffindor, Draco led her to his room. The entire time, she fought to keep her eyes open. She was exhausted. The corridors started to look the same. She didn't even remember being lifted up into the portrait hole to his room, just the feel of his hands cradling her and setting her down on the bed.

He lied down beside her, face to weary face. He ran his hand down the side of her arm, her bare thigh, and let it rest back on the curve on the side of her stomach. She smelled like the lake, like seaweed and squid, but he didn't care. Beneath it all, he could still smell the perfume he'd discovered against the tree in the courtyard and under all that, there was a hint of him.

He had never felt this sort of calm. He was always at peace with her but never like this. There was a gentle breeze blowing on the white curtains in the window, but the air was harsh on her wet skin and woke her.

"Draco, where are we?" she asked drowsily.

"Don't worry, Hermione. Just go to sleep," he responded, moving his hand to stroke her hair, then noticed she was shivering. He got up and pulled some sheets from the wardrobe and used his wand to warm them up. He took off his wet clothes again and helped her out of her shoes and shirt and skirt and threw it all in the corner with their cloaks to dry later.

He loved taking care of her, mainly because it made him feel she was his. He lied back down with her and covered both of them with the warm sheets. She made a small noise of pleasure and drew in closer to his body. He wrapped his arms around her and watched her until he too fell asleep.

-----

When Hermione woke up, the urge of the Veela had completely dissipated. She looked down at her body and quickly found the bruises and scratches from their night together. She wanted to throw up. She knew it wasn't because of last night but rather the guilt. She had known this was real for some time but it was now that her own body felt the circumstances of the romance and it made her sick.

She slowly got out of bed, making sure not to wake him, and went to find her clothes in the pile in the corner. They had completely dried overnight. She didn't really know what to do after that.

There were no words. Her mind was blank at first. All she could do was sit at the table near the bed and bite anxiously on her nails, staring at his perfectly sculpted ass. And yes, it was perfect, if not a bit pale. She smiled to herself at the thought then quickly realized she was watching her worst enemy sleep, naked, in the room where they'd just had slept after having sex. Not just any tragic-mistake, what-the-hell-was-I-on kind of sex either. It was glorious, stimulating, positively scintillating…

And it killed her more that she didn't feel shame. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to watch him sleep, because as long as he lied in that bed motionless, quiet, she could still pretend she had not slept with the cruel, thick jerk she'd grown to despise. She had slept with a boy who had the potential to be something greater in her life. As long as he slept, she could, _and did_, love him and as she went to open the door to leave, she took one final look at the boy she loved and her smile became a tear.

She hated to admit it but this was the first and last time. Whatever she had felt for him in body had been withered by guilt, by the sad reality that awaited her outside that room: Ron.

It was the day of the challenge, which meant before the end of the day she was going to have to own up to her mistake the night before. She knew it wasn't a mistake but it made her feel less guilty to call it that, like she didn't really have to admit she loved every moment of it. She didn't want to admit it had been loveless, since she knew he could not love her, but she couldn't admit to wanting more. It shamed Ron.

She got to breakfast halfway through, fully bathed and dressed as if nothing had happened. Draco had not arrived yet and she wondered if he was even awake. It had been a while since he slept and maybe he was trying to make up for lost time. But surely enough, he came through the doors of the Great Hall with great presence as always. She tried not to notice his entrance but she couldn't help a small peak and a smile. He was smiling too, which looked amazing on him. She realized she had never seen a smile like that on him before. Whenever he smiled, it seemed to have a hidden, perverse meaning to it. He smiled often, like when he'd just finished setting Neville's pants on fire in herbology, but never over something that actually made him happy and not further proved his pathological immorality.

"What's _he_ smiling at?" Harry asked of his table. Hermione looked up and saw Draco was staring at her. She hid her smile in a cup of orange juice but Ginny saw it and gave her a very disapproving look.

None could remember a quieter Gryffindor table. It seemed like they all knew Ron would not be coming out of this intact. It made her sick to think of such things. She hoped Draco kept his word. Nay, she prayed it. She couldn't bear to lose Ron.

It was then she began her final goodbye, just in case. She spoke with him all through breakfast, of cheerful past memories. She and Ron had always argued like rabid dogs. He wasn't sure what her new friendliness said of her belief in him but didn't bring it up. He also noticed she wasn't eating.

"You're really worried, aren't you?" he asked as she recalled last summer at his place with Harry and the Weasleys and getting rid of the gnomes in the backyard with tennis rackets.

"Of course not. I'm sure the gnomes are being taken care of," she responded.

"I meant the challenge," he said, sadly stern.

She stopped playing with her fork and looked up at his worried eyes, smiling at his innocent freckles. She put a hand on his cheek and said sweetly, "What you do today is no testament of the man you've become, Ron. The kind and merciful boy that's stood beside me for so long—that's what defines you, not this challenge. If you win or lose today, you're still Ron and you're still one of the best people I've ever met."

"You know you're very good at saying goodbye. I didn't buy it but I appreciate the effort to comfort," he said, still miserable.

She took her hand away and looked over at the Slytherins. She could almost hear Draco growl in her head. He did not like her gesture. He didn't like her touching other men. Veelas were one of the most protective creatures alive. Ron was lucky he didn't fly across the room and tear him to shreds.

"My God, Hermione!" Lavender shouted across the table. "What's happened to your neck?"

She quickly raised a hand to her neck and felt the scratches from the night before. She wasn't sure when he'd done it but it didn't really hurt so she didn't think too much of it. Lavender on the other hand made a scandal of it.

Harry looked up at her with this determined look on his face, a disapproving stare, and said through grinding teeth, "Let it go, Lavender. How's about you deal with your own problems and keep out of everyone else's. You nose is getting so much action it's nearly, literally, turned brown! I do hope you get that checked."

Hermione quickly turned to Harry, her eyes wide with surprise. Harry was not one to seek confrontation and he had no clue what the scratches were from so it was surprising to have him stand up for her for no reason. Ron didn't care for the scratches though, and neither did Ginny. They didn't say anything about it but they didn't speak a word to her the rest of breakfast. Even Harry was serious, and she wondered just how many of them knew the truth.

-----

The duel.

Hermione was escorted by Dumbledore to sit with the professors. She was, after all, the prize and they could not afford to lose her in the crowd. Draco and Ron stood straddling their brooms on the Quidditch field below. The stands were filled entirely. She was even sure a new row had been added.

She looked back at the professors and found herself face to face with Lucius Malfoy and his dastardly smirk. The thought of calling him Dad made her sick. She turned back to the game and ignored his presence. She doubted he knew she was the prize. He was more interested in his son's performance, of course. His family name could not be smeared further by a defeat, let alone to a Weasley and much less over a Mudblood.

Madame Hooch stood in the center of the field between them and instructed them to rise. Both now floated easily 100 feet above ground. Her stomach seemed to tremble, like a tsunami was going off inside her, attacking the walls of her esophagus.

Then, too soon for her to completely freak out, the whistle sounded and the first spells began to fly through the air. Draco held his own of course. He was very skilled at flight and better at wand magic than Ron. Hermione couldn't hear the spells from so far away. It was a great struggle to dodge streams of disarmament spells from both sides.

"Professor?" she asked of Dumbledore. "How long does one of these things usually last?"

It had only been 50 minutes and she already felt like dying. "Well the longest challenge lasted was 5 years, if you remember the McKinley/Carmichael affair of 1811 over the watering lands near Edinburgh. The last one took a few hours but if you remember, the result was not—well it just wasn't. Let us pray it doesn't come to that."

"Was there ever a challenge struck over a girl?" she asked sheepishly.

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. "Yes. If you remember the Trojan War, I believe that was the last one."

"That lasted 10 years!"

"No, actually the original challenge only lasted 2 hours between Paris of Troy and Menelaus of Mycenae. Menelaus won but Paris took her nonetheless. This was how the war started," he clarified.

It didn't make her feel any better, especially since she was no Helen.

Draco had grown tired of escaping each other's curses, though they seemed to be getting worse. He rose high above the crowd, so high he became a dot against the clouds. And just like that, he dove head first, so quickly that the clouds around him became a winged beast with the screech of a pterodactyl. He rode towards Ron so quickly that Hermione rose out of her chair, feeling his adrenaline.

He was going for the kill, she knew, and called out for him to stop. She closed her eyes so tight she thought they might bleed and begged him to swerve with every ounce of strength she had.

When she opened them again, the cloud beast had turned just before hitting Ron, who had frozen in midair, and dissolved in the tail spin. Out of the clouds fell Draco, his broom having abandoned him.

She didn't wait for him to land on the ground to go running down into the field so quickly she nearly rolled down the stairs. She slipped on the final step but ran. She couldn't stop her feet or her heart.

Once the clouds cleared, Ron looked down at his defeated opponent on the grass, and his prize coming to his rescue.

She ran to the center of the field where he laid on his back and cradled his head on her lap, stroking his hair.

"Draco? Baby, please. Wake up. Please, wake up," she kept saying over and over as the crowd above whispered and gasped in terror. She looked up at the stands. Lucius did not look pleased but he wasn't worried. It was the first time she ever wished death on anyone, but Lucius was no innocent victim.

Dumbledore came running down a minute after her, followed by professor after professor, all coming to help. But she wouldn't let them. She couldn't let him go, even for a moment.

"Draco!" she yelled at him, hysterical, as Snape came to pull her off.

He opened his eyes, just for a moment, and smiled at her. His hand went to reach for her but it could hardly move off the grass before he went unconscious again.

She fought Snape to be with him, kicked and screamed to be by his side, but they were taking him away with a levitacorpus spell. It looked like a funeral party carrying a casket. It made her sick to even think of such a thing. The crowds cleared for them to pass and Hermione was left on her knees on the grass.

She looked across the field at Ron, who had landed and walked towards her. His eyes said "I'm sorry," but his heart spelled "Victory."

Harry, Ginny, and Neville came running in from the stands, mainly to see if Ron was ok. Ron didn't even notice them. He couldn't take his eyes off Hermione, who stood completely defeated.

"Hermione, why--" Neville began but Ginny quickly grasped his arm and stopped him. Harry was the first to truly approach her and gave her a hug and a shoulder to cry on. He'd never seen her look this way, even when faced with incredible odds in the past.

"It was my fault!" she cried. "It was my fault! I've killed him!"

-----

Harry led Hermione to the infirmary after he managed to get her calm enough to walk. She still looked horrible and puffy and his blood was all over her skirt from when she'd held him on the field.

As they walked, she heard two ghosts talking on the way out of the wing. "Why would he swerve like that?" one asked. "He could have killed Weasley right then and there."

They both shut up as soon as they saw her. Her guilt was getting the better of her again but she'd managed to compose herself enough to simply wipe away her tears and clench her jaw at the first signs of sudden hysteria. She knew it was her fault. If she could feel his adrenaline, he could feel her restraint. She had to have caused it. She had commanded him not to kill Ron and now he'd killed himself trying to keep his promise.

Harry opened the doors for her and she stepped inside, staring at her feet the entire time. She knew if she looked up, she might see a corpse. But no. His bed was covered with white curtains and the teachers seemed to congregate in a circle near his bed about the best course of action. As soon as Dumbledore saw her, he quieted the circle and went to greet her.

"Ms. Granger, you've come," he said, taking her hands.

"How is he?" she asked sternly, before he could feed her some line about how everything was going to turn out alright.

Dumbledore seemed worried. "He's _shattered_ quite a few bones. He'll have to regrow them. He's lost a lot of blood and suffered a severe injury to the head but with the proper healing spells and charms, Madame Pomfrey seems to think he'll be back in no time," he said, trying to fake optimism.

"How long?" she asked, quietly lost in thought. She noticed Dumbledore was wearing two different shoes, which would have made her laugh under different circumstances. She told herself to remember it for when Draco woke up.

"A week. The injury was bad. The altitude and his speed were just too—"

"Can I see him?" she interrupted, her voice calm and small.

Dumbledore gave a slow nod and stepped aside. Madame Pomfrey was just stepping out of the curtains when she saw her. Somehow, her face seemed to shout blame. Everything did, to Hermione who knew nothing else to feel at a moment like this. Just as she stepped inside, Ron had come in and Harry managed to subdue him. She didn't even bother to acknowledge his presence before she closed the curtains behind her. Dumbledore began to clear people out just as she did.

There was a candle beside his bed that, along with the strong sunlight outside, cast her silhouette on the curtains. Ron watched her shadow sit down on the little chair beside Draco's bed and take his hand. He didn't even seem to notice she was there. His face had been scraped and patched as well and as quickly as magic could allow. She thanked magic and God and everything that had brought her Draco back to her.

She didn't know what to say. There was nothing really. She knew he was too heavily sedated to hear a thing. She thought maybe he could feel her touch on his hand. After all, how else could he know she was real? She took off her scarf and put it beside his pillow so he could smell her even when he slept and whispered, "I love you," so maybe his heart could feel again.

And though he could not see her, she bent down and kissed him lightly so he could still taste her and her salty tears, and maybe then he'd know she was right there with him.

Ron watched from outside and swallowed a great lump that had suddenly grown at his throat. Harry put a hand on his shoulder and led him outside. Hermione stepped out through the curtains and gave Dumbledore a small nod of appreciation before walking to meet Harry at the door.

And then she saw Ron, eye to eye, and said bravely, "I think it's time we had a talk."

-----

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" he yelled some time later in the Gryffindor common room by the fire.

"Ron, calm down!" she hissed.

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me you were bonded?" he hissed back, almost to the point of spitting. "Do you know the kind of laws that protect Veelas? They could have me killed for coming between you!"

"You didn't come between us, Ron," she said shyly.

He calmed. "Were you in that field? I was fighting to take you away from your mate, Hermione. It doesn't matter that I didn't know. If a Veela feels its mate is being threatened or taken away, the law says he can _kill me_!

The calm passes quickly. She looked at the fire. "None of that matters now, Ron."

"How long has this been going on, Hermione?" he asked, feeling the fool.

She looked back up at him. She wondered that herself, if her Veela desires had come before and she never paid them any mind. "It started Christmas break. I was going to help him suppress the Mark. It was driving him insane."

"The Mark? You're dating a Death Eater?" he leaned in and whispered. She'd never thought of it that way. Maybe she was. Maybe there was a certain allure to it she had never admitted to.

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Hermione, tell me the truth," he asked seriously. "Has he been hurting you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What? No. Not physically anyway."

"Then how'd you get the scratches and the bruises on your—" he began but stopped himself. She smirked as he asked. "I think I'm going to be sick." He stood up and went upstairs to lie down, shaking his head in disbelief.

Harry, who had been listening as was Ginny, came closer and held her hand. "So you love him? It's real?" he asked.

She smiled, admitting it truly for the first time. "I do."

"Does he love _you_?" Ginny asked cruelly, standing up in a huff and storming up the stairs to the dormitory.

"Don't worry about her. I'll have a talk with her later," Harry said and looked away as if he was hiding something. He was never very good at that, not with her.

"Harry, what is it?" she asked.

"I've known about you two since Christmas, Hermione," he said sadly. "I mean I suspected, all the time you were spending at the 'library' and all, but I didn't know it was him until I saw you a few days ago, under the tree in the courtyard."

"You knew?" she yelled. "Well there's no point now. Everyone knows."

"I dunno. I think that's a good thing. It's going to make a few people sick to their stomach for a while – I mean, come on, it's Malfoy – but I think it'll be alright. Just you see."

-----

Hermione refused to go to bed that night. There was no way she could sleep knowing he was all alone in the hospital wing. So, she asked Harry for his invisibility cloak and carefully stepped through the white curtains, careful not to knock over anything on the bedside table.

She took two necklaces from her cloak, two simple silver chains with two quartz-like pendant stones. She carefully placed one over his head and let the quartz rest on his chest and put the other around herself under the shimmer of invisibility. She rested her head upon the edge of the bed and placed his hand in hers, and instantly fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes, she knew she had not really opened them but merely lit up her dreams with his. There he was, a mere boy of six, sitting on a giant marble chessboard.

"Draco?" she asked, approaching the boy, but he did not answer.

"Yes?" came a voice from behind. It was Draco, full grown and formally dressed. She loved how well he cleaned up, not that he ever dressed down. He seemed to be having trouble with his cufflinks, so she went over to help when he suddenly realized it was her.

"Hermione?" he said, looking at her like it'd last been years. And then she realized, in his dreams, it had. He looked so old, his eyes weary but kinder than she had ever known. She looked back at the boy sitting calmly on the floor, at his devious smirk.

"Draco, you've split in two," she whispered. It echoed throughout the vast darkness, hurting the little boy. He screamed and covered his ears. She didn't feel the need to help him though. She despised him, even, and didn't know why.

"Hermione, you shouldn't be here. You should be getting ready! The guests will be here soon," the older Draco said. He still couldn't get his cufflinks to work and she couldn't get her hands to lift to help him.

"You've let a Mudblood in," the young boy hissed, staring at her with great hatred. The older didn't seem to hear him.

"Draco, do you remember the challenge? Do you remember getting hurt?" she asked.

"Challenge? What challenge? Now go! I shouldn't even be seeing you yet, dress or not. It's bad luck."

She suddenly realized what he was dreaming of. "Draco, are we to be married?" she asked.

"Well of course, darling! Go!" he replied. That snapped her hands out of their freeze and they instantly went to his face, not the cufflinks.

She cupped his chin in her hands and asked, "Draco, do you love me?"

She knew it was the only place he might ever say it but no. He did not reply. He continued to struggle with the damned cufflinks until she grew tired of it and took his face and raised herself onto her toes to kiss him.

When she opened her eyes again, Draco was not older and the floor was not a marble chessboard. The younger Draco had gone and all she saw was his face, smiling down at her. "Don't be haunted, Draco," she said and kissed him again. "The past means nothing now. And the future is even less insignificant. All that matters is us, alright?"

He looked at her like he didn't know what she was talking about but smiled and kissed her again. That was all he wanted after that. He had to have her. The present was cursed with lust.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I? You're not really here."

"No no!" she said quickly, joyous to find him well again. "It's me. I used Morpheus' pendants. It's really me."

"That's something a dream would say. Did I win?" he asked softly, resting his forehead to hers and closing his eyes.

"No. You were hurt. Do you remember?"

"I remember you calling, telling me to swerve."

She quickly pulled away, scared her guilt might return. She hated the feeling, hated what she'd done to him. "You heard that? Oh Draco, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Am I going to be alright… or is this goodbye?" he asked.

She smiled and stroked his face. It was the closest she could get to feeling him. The rest felt too much like a dream, but this was really him. "You'll be fine, love. And I'm going to be the first thing you see when you wake up. I promise."

He made a small sound like a moan but it didn't come from within the dream. She could hear him outside, on his bed. "Hermione, I've lost you then."

"No, love, never. I'm still here, see? They know about us now. The entire school saw me come to you when you fell. God, Draco… it was horrible," she said, wanting to cry again.

"If it means anything…"

"Yes?" she asked, breaking his embrace. She didn't even notice they'd begun to sway as in a dance.

"I…"

"Yes?" Her eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights. She knew it was a dream. She knew it didn't mean anything in the real world but she still wanted to hear him say…

"I love you."

She couldn't cry in a dream, no matter how much she wanted to, but she closed her eyes again and kissed him. But this was no ordinary kiss. It was not fierce or gentle. It was hardly real. It was just a reply, a simple gesture that she felt the same. And that was worth more to him that anything she could ever say. She couldn't lie in a dream, as magic and soul did not allow it. Words meant nothing anywhere. But in that kiss, he knew.

He couldn't help but smile, even when her lips were pressed upon him. "Hey," he whispered. "Look down."

The darkness around them was gone, replaced with a bed in the middle of a grand forest, millennia old with trees that reached the stars. They danced upon it, barefoot, in white clothing. "Draco, where are we?"

"It's a dream, right? Never enter a Veela's dream unless you want something you can't get in body, and of course a Veela's body is only good for one thing," he said, looking down at her like he waited her permission to have her.

But of course he didn't even bother for her permission. It was a dream, and he knew she wanted it. It'd be a shame to lie now and deny him.

"After all," he said. "We have an eternity in a dream."

She didn't like his words. She knew they couldn't hide in their dreams forever. Their real bodies still aged, still felt the pressures of evil. "No," she replied sternly. "Not an eternity. This is an oasis. The desert still waits for us."

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART FOUR:**

--Are the plans to escape still in the works if Lucius Malfoy is right there in the castle?

--What will happen now that the school knows?

--Does "the desert" mean there's trouble ahead for them?

--How will the Morpheus pendants come in handy later on and what's the significance of their name?

--Is Ron really going to give up on Hermione so easily?

--Why did Draco say he loved her in the dream and not in real life?

--What's the significance of Dumbledore's Trojan War story? Does he know what's to come?

--And, what role will Harry, Ginny, Neville, and the rest play in this war?

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**If you've read, REVIEW!**


	5. The Descent

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART FIVE

-----

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_I'd like to thank all those who waited for this chapter, even inquired about it on my MySpace and on here. It's always so nice to hear from you and I think I've responded to most of my reviews. I'm quite proud of that, actually, since I've hardly had any time to write this past month. Bit of health issues combined with incredible amounts of stress. But it's here. Finally. _

_The great goodbye and Hermione's descent into darkness..._

_Also read a special hint at the end of the story. It'll only make sense if you read the chapter. Enjoy._

-----

Hermione awoke in her own bed beside Draco, their hands still intertwined between them. She tried to sit up and saw the invisibility cloak folded up nicely at her feet. She let go of his hand reluctantly and went to get out of bed when her pendant began to glow white around her neck. She gasped and reached for it but it was so cold, it burnt.

"Stop, you silly girl!" she heard Pomfrey yell as she ran across the room, waving her arms like mad.

Hermione quickly let go but it was too late. The cold had already burned just enough for it to sting like a thousand needles penetrating her palm. She let out a cry of pain as she watched the symbol scar over onto her skin.

"Ms. Granger! You know better than to break physical contact before taking it off!"

"What?"

"You have to take off the necklace first, _before_ breaking the bond!" the hysterical woman yelled, examining Hermione's newfound scar. It had stopped hurting quickly but the scar remained.

The letters KIATRATZIE began to form in a circle starting just under the thumb. "What does it mean?" she whispered.

Pomfrey looked up at her over her glasses and threw her hand down onto the bed. "It reads 'Sinner,'" she responded with disdain.

"Sinner…" Hermione echoed softly and looked to Draco's bed on her right.

"You're too young to be using spells like these, child! What if your consciousness got stuck inside him?" she yelled. "What if you never woke up?"

Hermione had an answer but she didn't really care to be morbid. "I'm fine, ma'am. Don't worry. I won't try it again," she said.

Pomfrey didn't really believe her. Hermione didn't believe herself.

-----

When Draco woke up, it was night once again and Hermione was no longer in the bed beside him. He hadn't known she had woken there that morning but there was a presence still on the bed, in the whole wing, as if her warmth had left an imprint in the air. Then he saw her scarf by his pillow and went to reach for it when he realized his arm hurt too much to move. The smell of her hair was still on the sheets from the night before and he smiled, despite the pain. He knew the dream had been true.

He looked to the row of beds along the wall opposite him. Dumbledore sat in one of the beds, leaning his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hand, his eyes pensive.

"Professor?" Draco asked hoarsely.

Dumbledore snapped out of his train of thought and stood up. "Mr. Malfoy!" he said with a smile. "How good you've woken. I was afraid we'd have to postpone our plans further. And Ms. Granger suffered quite a scare, of course."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"The challenge was two days ago, if that helps."

"How long before we leave? I don't want to return to class. Not after this," he said seriously. Dumbledore shed his smile.

"There's been a complication."

"What complication? If it's Hermione, I'm sure she's willing to go."

Dumbledore sat down in the bed beside him. "I'm sorry, but there's no way she can go with you now."

Draco felt like he'd fallen off his broom all over again. "But without her, I'd die."

"I'm sure we can find some way, some charm, to prevent extreme—"

"There's no way and you know it!"

"Mr. Malfoy—Draco—I'm sorry but—"

"What? Does Dumbledore's Army plan conjugal visits now? What the hell's the matter with you people?" Draco realized he was screaming. "Your own laws protect us!"

Dumbledore looked sick, like there was something he still wasn't saying that seemed to drill into him. Draco calmed for a moment long enough to realize his previous smile had been a farce.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Draco, your father is back in Azkaban. Voldemort found out about you. Your mother still hasn't been found… There's no time, dear. I can't protect you both, not under these circumstances."

Draco stared into Dumbledore's pale eyes, feeling trapped.

-----

Hermione was at dinner that night when she heard the news. Pansy came running into the Great Hall, instantly whispering something to Crabbe and Goyle. She saw them look over at her and her stomach collapsed. She knew something was wrong with Draco.

Ginny saw Hermione's face, her evident fear. She nudged Harry to look and he too became worried. They watched the Slytherins as they approached their table. Pansy was in front, her face smug.

Hermione tried not to pay too much attention. Her teeth clenched together till her jaw ached, but it didn't help any. Pansy still wanted to eat her alive.

"I hope you're happy," she spat.

Hermione looked up, very tired, and responded, "Not lately. What'd I do now?"

"He's leaving. Draco's dropped out of Hogwarts," Crabbe jumped in with a bit of a slur. Everyone raised an eyebrow. He actually said something coherent.

_Go figure, _Hermione thought, then realized what he'd said. "What's this to do with me?"

"He's leaving _because_ of you! After what happened at the challenge, his father seems to think he's become too soft and enrolled him in a militant wizard league," Pansy pushed back in.

Hermione contemplated Draco in a uniform, bald and carrying some sort of Muggle weapon. She shook her head. "I had nothing to do with that. It's not like it's a big loss," she lied. She hadn't realized how much she'd lost yet.

Blaise Zabini stood up from the Slytherin table and walked over beside Pansy. He'd become interested. "You're a horrible liar. Did you know?" he said. "We were all at the field that day, Granger."

"And what exactly did you see, Blaise?" she responded sternly, standing up. The Gryffindor table separated them but she felt like she was staring him straight in the eye, feeling his disdain all over her.

And then something happened, like a twitch. It was so noticeable to her, like he was gesturing towards the door. Nobody else saw it, but she felt like she could trust it.

"I have no time for this," Hermione said, turning to walk out in search of Draco.

"Don't bother," Blaise said, his tone callous but his intentions pure. "He's already left. Dumbledore shipped him out an hour ago. He told me himself."

There was the twitch again. He wanted her to go after him. He and Draco had always been close. Maybe she'd found an ally. And then it hit her again, the truth behind their harsh words.

_He's left without me?_ she thought.

She tried very hard not to believe it and not to cry. She tried to preoccupied herself with the fantasy that he was having a horrible time and she should probably do something to help rescue him. But her body did not catch up with her mind. She threw her cloth napkin on the table and stormed out, walking straight through the Bloody Baron without a hesitant thought.

-----

Draco paced on the grounds, hoping she'd gotten his message, but he couldn't be sure of the strength of their connection. Maybe Blaise had let her know. He had stopped by the infirmary just as Dumbledore was taking him away. He was the only Slytherin to have done so.

He closed his eyes and begged for her to find him but she wasn't there. She wouldn't listen.

"We must be going, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, looking at his pocket watch.

A small group of wizards was flying his way on brooms, with their cloaks whipping the air behind him. Draco squinted and for a moment, in the distance, they almost looked like Dementors.

-----

She went to the infirmary but he wasn't there. His bed was empty and made and the sheets were so white, it was as if he was never even there. It made her want to vomit. For a moment, she wondered if any of it had even happened. It made her even sicker.

Madame Pomfrey saw her face and asked, "Are you alright dear?"

Hermione swallowed hard and looked up at Pomfrey. "He's gone. He's left without me."

"He's what? But Dumbledore just took him to his office a half hour ago. Maybe you can still catch him."

Hermione didn't let her finish before running out of the wing.

She got to the gargoyles but McGonagall was just leaving Dumbledore's office. "Stop!" she yelled out for her to hold the door.

"There's no one inside, Ms. Granger. Dumbledore's seeing Mr. Malfoy off."

"He's still here?" She tried to catch her breath. "Where are they?"

"The Quidditch field. Run and you can still make it."

Hermione nodded a thank you and began her run again.

-----

"I can't do this," Draco said softly, staring at the grass. His right arm was in a sling and his left was completely wrapped under his cloak. It'd stopped hurting a few hours ago but he still felt pain. He couldn't leave her.

"Draco, don't do this now," the Headmaster begged, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Draco tried not to look up. One look into Dumbledore's begging eyes and he might be tempted to change his mind. Dumbledore had that effect on people, made them see reason. But he knew what he felt wasn't reasonable.

"No…" he began. He felt a far-away desperation that stopped him, a sudden breathlessness, and turned towards the southern entrance.

Dumbledore saw her first. Draco turned to him as if asking permission to run after her, then realized his foolishness and ran. His legs were still weak but he ran nonetheless.

They collided into a hug and a spin. She'd been crying. He could feel her cold cheeks against his. He took his right arm out of the sling and placed his hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair.

"Draco, I thought you'd gone," she whispered into his ear. She thought if she closed her eyes tightly enough and held him close enough, she could keep him just a little bit longer. But she knew she was only kidding herself.

"No, baby. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere, not without you." She smiled, loving the way he called her, loving everything he said. "I remember the dream. I remember the forest and the--"

"Stop, Draco," she said, forehead to forehead, staring him straight in the eyes. She didn't realize how much the grey glowed in the waning moonlight. It made her feel even guiltier.

"No. It isn't right. They can't force us apart," he said. He explained how Dumbledore couldn't hide both of them together, how they'd just end up dead if they stayed, of his mother and father.

Hermione didn't want to say it, so she let him talk. She knew Dumbledore was waiting, that the men in black cloaks were looking upon them, looking to Dumbledore for answers and explanations.

And she said softly, "Draco, I didn't come to ask you to stay. I came to say goodbye… What I ask of you now, I do with all the love in my heart, ok? I need you to go. I need you to be safe."

"Hermione, no--" he interrupted.

"Do it for me, if you must. Just… Just promise you'll come back some day. Please, just promise," she begged, caressing his cheek. She was trying so hard not to cry but it was too difficult not to and finish what she wanted to say.

He didn't let her finish. He couldn't answer, couldn't tell her he secretly wanted her to say just that, that he understood why she was doing it. Before she could continue, he shook his head in denial, cupped her face with both hands and kissed her in such a way she had never felt before, even in their dreams. It was the last kiss. It had to count. It had to be memorable… but it was tarnished by the saltiness of her tears and the constant reminder that this was quite possibly the last time they'd ever kiss.

He pulled away quickly, hiding his eyes. He called for his broom and mounted it, looking back one last time to the sad little girl kneeling in the dewy grass and the eyes that saw him off into the night.

-----

Ron walked back to Gryffindor tower when he felt a hand pull him into the wall. He passed straight through into a classroom on the other side. It was too dark to see and he'd left his wand upstairs, so all he could really do was ask who was there.

"Ronald Weasley?" a hoarse voice asked. "I have a message for you."

"Who are you?" he asked again. "Answer me!"

The figure pulled back the hood on his cloak and called out for light with his wand.

"Blaise?"

"Draco's left tonight, gone into hiding. He's asked me to deliver this to you," he whispered, taking out a letter with the Slytherin coat of arms sealing the envelope. Ron often wondered if evil came with stationary. Apparently it did. Maybe Voldemort got his name from sending out memos with headings like "From the desk of the Dark Lord" or "Lord Voldemort: Murderer Extraordinaire."

"Do you know what it's about?" Ron asked, taking it with slight reluctance. He knew it was about Hermione.

"I imagine he intended you to read it, Weasley. What is it with Gryffindors? Don't they teach you people to read?" He scoffed and walked back out through the wall. Ron wondered where he'd learned to do that. Dark magic, he was sure.

He stepped through the wall and felt it close behind him. And then he looked down at the letter. It was too neat to open. He felt like he was breaking an artwork to get to the crackerjack surprise inside. With his luck, the letter would probably punch him for trying to keep Hermione.

But no. He read it over and over till he got to his bed in Gryffindor Tower and it still didn't sink in.

He read it once more to Harry:

_Weasley,_

_You can never know how much it pains me to have to write you. Pride is not easily forgotten. But for Hermione, I'd shred my honor into a thousand pieces and present it to you as I do now. _

_I leave tonight, as Blaise may have told you. It was not by choice. Circumstances arose and I fear I cannot take Hermione with me. I would take her despite the danger, as it will hurt me more to be away from her than to worry for her life and have her near, but it's too much for me to care for her now. _

_I beg of you, Ronald, to watch over her for me. I grant you may court her and keep her company in my stead. I forgive you now, and her, for anything you may do. Just please, do not let her be alone, and no matter what, make sure she has her friends to stand beside her. _

_Do not leave her, Ronald Weasley. She's the only thing I have left and I couldn't bear to know she's in pain for too long. _

_Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy._

Harry looked at Ron with a raised eyebrow. "He's telling you to snog his girlfriend while he's away?" he asked. It was natural for Harry to take everything with disdain when it came to Malfoy.

Ron took the letter with greater sentiment. "No. He's telling me he's not coming back for a while and that something's going to happen to Hermione."

"What do you mean?"

Harry was not familiar with the legends. "Do you know what happens to a mate when she loses her Veela?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head. "They go insane, Harry. The pain drives them mad. Just pray to God that Malfoy doesn't die."

-----

Hermione saw them go in the distance, Dumbledore along with them till the very edge of the horizon. And then they were gone. The feeling she got when she neared Draco was growing so little now that it drained her strength just to keep it.

She suddenly felt her breath become heavier, though she knew she was gasping for cold air long before they disappeared into the ether. So cold. She looked around, now aware she was kneeling, thinly-clothed, atop a sheet of snow. It was night, lit by such blue moonlight that she thought a spell had been cast over Hogwarts and turned it all surreal, a lie.

But it wasn't. It was his leaving that had taken the spell away. It was their passion that had kept the snow at bay, but now her heart froze with the grass beneath her knees. And she could feel herself wilt just as quickly.

Shaking uncontrollably, she pushed herself off her knees and staggered towards the only light in the distance: a lantern lit on the porch of Hagrid's cabin. It was becoming too intense, the environment and the cold and the solace. She reached her limit on the steps just before the cabin and collapsed with a sudden gasp and sharp yells of pain quickly followed.

She broke skin. The cold was getting in.

A golden light lit the snow and she looked up. "Draco…" she managed to whisper despite the chatter of her own teeth. She didn't know how long she'd knelt there, watching him go. For a moment, she thought the shadow at the door had been him, but her heart couldn't fool her eyes.

"No, dear. It's Hagrid," he said, pulled her up into his arms. "Well get on 'n 'ere."

"Draco…" she whispered again. She knew it was Hagrid but it was the only thing she could cope with saying.

"Did 'e do this to ya'?" the great man asked. "Hermione? Hermione!"

Before she could respond, her head fell back and she drifted away to sleep, holding onto Morpheus' pendant around her neck for dear life. For Draco.

-----

"Do you know where she is?" Ron asked Ginny the next morning.

"She's not up here, Ron," she responded. "Have you checked the infirmary?"

"Why would she be there?"

"Well… Draco."

"Draco's left, Ginny. Last night." She suddenly felt a great sympathy for Hermione, and a great guilt for her own past behavior.

Harry stepped in beside Ginny at the base of the steps to the girls' dormitory. "Do you think he took her with him?" he asked.

Ron, who looked the most somber and firm that they had ever seen, responded, "You read the letter, Harry. You know Malfoy. He would never have written that if he didn't know for a fact there was no way she was going with him."

"Ron, I'm worried," Harry said. "You and Ginny know most about Veelas. How quickly is she going to suffer his leaving?"

Both shrugged. The common room door opened. Everyone suddenly felt their stomachs churn with worry and they looked over to the portrait entrance as if waiting for her to enter. Nothing. It was a pack of first years.

"That's it," Ron said, determined. "We're gonna look for her. All of us. The DA, if we have to. We have to find her."

-----

Hermione woke up in a smelly bed in Hagrid's cabin, seemingly alone. Fangs was still in a corner, asleep like a good watchdog. He let out a loud snore. She smiled but her eyes were so heavy it almost hurt.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep. It was daylight outside. She could hear the animals and creatures going on about their day. She realized life was still going on. It felt so strange, as if she was watching a TV screen or as if her own life had been halted. To her, she was still in Morpheus' dream world. But the promise of an eternity had been a lie. Life, unfortunately, still went on without her.

Her hands still shook from the cold. She tried to get up but she was covered by so many blankets and furs that she had to pull together the strength to get out from under them. She felt so weak and so tired.

The instant she put a bare foot on the cold floor, she remembered the night's dream. She knew she had almost crawled to Hagrid's cabin but she had trouble holding onto the memory of the pendant dream, of Draco.

She remembered their goodbye in the field but she couldn't remember if she saw him again in their dreams. Had he left his pendant? No. She felt it under his robes when he kissed her goodbye. She remembered the kiss. His taste still burned her lips. His face still lingered when she closed her eyes. But it felt unreal. It felt as if that was a dream as well.

The world had restarted that night. She hadn't. She couldn't let go of Draco.

She stumbled towards the uneven coffee table in the middle of the cabin and ended up falling. She managed to grab the table's edge but just brought down the heavy contents of it down with her.

Fangs awoke with the noise. He quickly went to lick her face and see if she was alright but being slobbered didn't make her feel any better. It woke her up a bit though.

Hagrid came through the door just as she got onto her wobbly knees again. He caught her before she went down again. "Dear Lord, girl. Wha' ye think yer doin'?" he said, worry still in his tone. "Do ye have any idea da scare ya gave me las' nigh'?"

"Last night? What time is it?" she asked, grasping at his large coat for stability.

"It's near dinna, I think. Now d'ya wanna explain what ya were doin' with dis kind of magic on ya?" he scolded. She looked down at the pendant. "It 'ook all I 'ad in me not to turn ya in."

"I got it this summer. I was going to study it." Then a thought popped into her head. She thought of Diagon Alley. "Hagrid, after all these years, do you still trust me?"

"Wit' mah life," he said proudly, helping her into a chair and going to clean up the things from the floor.

"I need you to do me a favor. It's a grand favor, and I understand if you'd rather not do it, but it'd mean the world to me," she began.

He looked suddenly serious, left the kettle on the floor, and went to sit in front of her. "Wa' is it?" he asked, leaning in closer.

"I need you to find me something. I need you to go to Knockturn Alley."

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART SIX:**

--Why haven't Pomfrey or Hagrid turned Hermione in? What do they know that she doesn't?

--Where has Draco been taken?

--What's going to happen with Hermione with Draco gone?

--Is Draco feeling the same sudden descent into darkness?

--How will the pendants come in handy and why are they considered such powerful magic?

--Will Hagrid help her? How far is he willing to go to do so?

--_And finally…_ will Draco keep his promise? Will he return?

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**SPECIAL QUERY! **_What do you think Hermione's going to ask Hagrid to get from Knockturn Alley? _**HINT:**_ It's a potion._

_-_


	6. Questing

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART SIX

-----

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _There are a few warnings for this chapter, mainly drug abuse. A few spoilers from the original Harry Potter 6. Other than that, enjoy._

_Oh! And there's a new pic of me in the link on my profile. Check it out. Click on my name above._

-----

Hermione paced in front of fangs. He both kept her safe and dashed any hope of leaving. She didn't really think she wanted to but something in her gut told her she should be doing something, anything. She hated the wait. She hated knowing Draco was out there. Maybe he had sent her a letter or…

She didn't want to admit it but she thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd come back for her already. She felt like he was waiting for her inside the castle but maybe it was just wishful thinking.

She stopped pacing and looked Fangs straight in the eye and, waving a steady finger, said, "You know you could be keeping me from my true love. I could die."

Fangs tilted his head and looked at her questioningly.

"You're right," she responded. "I don't know what I'm doing either."

It was some time before Hagrid returned from Knockturn Alley. Hermione had grown tired of pacing and sat on the edge of the bed. The door opened and his giant shadow entered first, followed by his yellow coat. The light of the lamps danced in her wide eyes. It had gotten late and the wait was getting too intense.

"Did you bring it?" she asked anxiously.

Hagrid shook his head slowly, reluctantly reaching into one of his many pockets. "No one can know," he warned, and handed her a small burgundy bundle.

She snatched it, jumped up as high as she could to kiss his cheek, and sat back down on the small table. Hagrid wiped with brow with his large hand and sat on the bed. Hermione could hear him pray for forgiveness in the background but it was too low for her to hear clearly and too insignificant for her to care. He'd done his job. He was no longer needed.

She unwrapped the bundle and took out the vial of gold powder within. She held it up to the lanterns and saw it shimmer as if it absorbed the light within itself. She smiled deviously, lifted the top, and watched a small wisp of smoke leave before placing it under her nose and taking a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes, the gold had found them and taken over and reflected the light from the lantern, absorbing it until the flame inside gave in and joined her.

She doesn't remember breathing after that. She must have, but the long death had already begun.

-----

Draco rested his head against the frame of the carriage window. It was still day in Hong Kong, or rather it was the next morning. He didn't see the night come and leave, which he found comforting as it would have hurt too much to rest and see her in his dreams. She never left them now and he still couldn't tell if it was really her. The fantasy hurt less.

He closed his eyes and saw her there, smiling back. The carriage hit some sort of bump and his head hit the frame painfully fast. He cursed and reached for his forehead when he saw his companions were gone. He looked outside but there was no one there. He went to the other side but Dementors were already coming down the path. He ran out the door and saw the Aurors lying on the floor. As far as he could tell, they were alive and merely passed out but the quickness of the attack was startling.

"Who's doing this?" he asked to the wind.

A great army of wizards took off their cloaks and surrendered their invisibility shimmers and Draco realized he was surrounded by the dozens. The Dementors circled above as if a dome stopped their entrance into the ever-enclosing circle of fiends.

"Tell Voldemort I'm no longer his toy. I never was. He can kill me if he wants but I refuse to obey him!"

One of the Dementors lowered down into the center before him. It pushed back its dark hood and the disguising magic flowed down to the earth. The face of a woman, tired, pale and old, showed itself in the light of the forest.

She sneered and said, "You're not welcome in my forest, Death Eater."

"I'm not a Death Eater! I'm here under the protection of Albus Dumbledore."

"You're a Malfoy and you carry the Mark," she hissed. "And Dumbledore has no say here either."

"Look – Listen! I just left my school, my family, my Lord, _and_ my mate to find sanctuary from dark forces. You cannot kill me now…" He stopped, breathless, and continued softly, "I have to get back to her."

The woman's eyes softened. Draco noticed they were gray like his own. "Your mate?" she asked, confused. She pulled her hood all the way back and revealed her own silver hair.

"You're… a Veela too?" he asked, his jaw shivering with fear. He looked around. The uncloaked wizards were all men. She was their queen.

"Dumbledore's still a fool, I see," she continued. "Of course he would send you to my forest. He thinks you're Veela."

"I am Veela," he insisted. "My name is Draco Malfoy. My mate is named Hermione Granger. She's part Muggle and quite beautiful, and if there's any heart left in you people, you'll send me back to her safely."

She laughed. "Dumbledore has plans for you. I owe him from years back. When you see him again, make sure to tell him we're even."

"Does that mean you'll help me?" She nodded and raised her hand. It signaled the Dementors to lower their hoods and lower down. "They're all wizards?"

"It's camouflage. There's a small wizard town nearby. The townsfolk think we're Dementors and leave us alone," she said, walking through the assembled horde. A path opened for her and he followed behind her. He looked back but the wizards had gone again, hidden under their camouflage. He knew the magic. It was older than the invisibility cloak and darker too.

There was a reason dark magic was so dark. At some point, it corrupted the soul and ate at it until all remorse was gone. It had eaten Voldemort hollow. That glimmer was taking them. And far away, darkness was taking Hermione.

-----

On her way back to the castle, Hermione tried to see the world through her new eyes. It was just after sunset and she'd missed a few classes. She was surprised no one had come looking for her at Hagrid's. But she also knew Hagrid had not kept her presence there to himself.

That's why, when she felt the first inkling of a person coming her way – no matter how far away they were – she knew it was either someone watching her or someone looking for her. But it was neither. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and said calmly, "Hello Professor Dumbledore."

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, walking beside her into the castle. "I was just going to visit Hagrid to see how you were doing."

She gave a chuckle. "I figured. And I know your footsteps anywhere. You walk on a cloud, Professor."

He laughed. "I've been told this before. So, how are you dealing with Mr. Malfoy's departure?"

She didn't look him in the eyes. She just stared at her feet as she walked, her arms crossed. She didn't answer his question either, just lowered her head even more.

He caught on it but didn't mention it. "I heard what happened to you after he left. The snow? Very powerful magic there, Ms. Granger."

She still didn't respond. She was caught on how his voice sounded, like he was talking over a bullhorn. Everything was louder, even the birds in the distance, hiding from the cold. Even the students inside the castle so far away. She felt their movement, saw it in streams, remnants of motion. Figures were dragged in colorful ribbons through time. She wondered if that was what she was seeing, time dance before her.

Then she caught a glimpse of Dumbledore's hands. They fumbled with each other, making a mess of colors and streams. "Professor, what aren't you telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

She could hear his heart quicken. "It's about Draco, isn't it?"

He stopped walking and she finally looked up at him, praying the gold had gone, waiting for his answer. "The six Aurors that were supposed to get him through Hong Kong were found abandoned in a nearby town, memories erased."

"No sign of him?"

"None."

She whispered under her breath, "Lucius," and stormed off towards the tower before he could say anything more.

-----

"What's you name?" Draco asked her on the silent path through the woods.

"Om-ree," she said.

"That's a strange name. I like it. Does it come with a last name?"

"No," she responded sternly. He gulped and didn't speak again.

They quickly reached a clearing and she yelled something out he couldn't quite understand. It wasn't Chinese. He doubted it was human. This woman was in another league. She wasn't on the side of good or evil. She wasn't even caught in the middle. He doubted either side knew she existed. Only Dumbledore. It worried him to be a pawn in his plans but it was better than being a subject to Voldemort.

"What was her name?" Om-ree asked, taking out her wand.

"Hermione. Hermione Granger," he said, staring at his shoes like they were the most marvelous things in the world. Well they cost more than a house so they pretty much were.

She chuckled lightly. "You say it sweetly, as if she's hearing."

"She's always with me."

"No, Mr. Malfoy. She's not," she said, waving her wand with great grace and art. 12 doors, simple and elegant, dropped down around them in a circle with a bang. He jumped up and held his heart like it was something precious. She noticed and walked to him. She took her wand and lifted the chain around his neck. "Morpheus? You're more evil than you think, boy."

"What about it? She got it for me."

"No wonder she's always with you." She took his hand and looked at the scar on his hand. He hadn't really noticed it. He had so many scars, from curses and magics that Hermione could never even think of. She'd seen a few but hadn't questioned them.

"Do you know what it means?"

"Victim. It's spelled the same as Sinner but in dreams, they're usually the same thing. Pick a door, Mr. Malfoy."

"Pick a door?"

She raised an eyebrow. "There are 12 doors, sir, unless you cannot see them. In which case, pick one so we can take you to a doctor." He stood there, looking at all the doors. They had different varnishes and colors. Some had golden and silver embedded into the wood. Two were metal. One was pitch black. He went to that one. Om-ree put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Oh my poor boy. How they've lied to you."

She directed him to one of the gold-encased doors and stepped through. He watched her disappear as if a glowing water took her in, leaving no trace anywhere. He looked around. The other doors had disappeared, except the black one. That one was always there, he knew, behind him, chasing him through life. Evil. He gulped, closed his eyes, and stepped through after Om-ree.

------

Hermione walked through the portrait into Gryffindor tower. She had a thousand thoughts running at the same time but the moment she stepped through, they all withered into the background. There was no one there. There were often few students but now, it was completely empty, quiet.

She ran up the stairs into the girls' dormitory. Ginny was there, looking through her bookbag for something.

"Where is everyone?" Hermione asked.

Ginny pushed a book into the crowded bag and looked up at her over her eyelashes. "Looking for you."

"For me? I thought Hagrid had told you where I was."

"Nope," she said callously and went to talk past her, knocking into her shoulder.

Hermione stood stern as a statue. She felt anger rise within her. "Stop!" she yelled. Ginny stopped at the top of the stairs. "I need your help."

"What?"

She turned around and looked at her, tired, with gold in her eyes. "I need your help. I need to find Draco… I need to get into Azkaban."

-----

Ron and Harry found Dumbledore on the grounds, coming towards the school. "Sir! Professor!" they yelled. "We've looked and looked and can't find Hermione. We think something's happened to her."

"You're right. But I saw her moments ago. She went into the castle. Hagrid informed me she was in a frantic and was recovering. I suggest you speak with him about her well-being. I doubt she'll be of much help," he answered.

The two ran to Hagrid's. Not walked. Ran. They pushed in the door, not bothering to knock. The giant sat on his bed, eyes wide open with guilt. They called out his name and asked how he was. He looked so worried, like he'd just seen a great friend die before his eyes.

"She was 'ere," he began, gulping loudly. "She came in from the snow like a wise owl with a broken wing. I tried to heal 'er, but she was too broken, inside as well as in."

"Hagrid, why did Dumbledore send us to you? What don't we know?" Harry asked, too worried to think clearly.

"I got 'er the medicine."

Ron's face suddenly aged 20 years. Harry did not know of such poisons but Ron had been warned since birth. "What medicine?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Hagrid looked up at him and confirmed his beliefs in a single whisper. "Essence of Ambrosia."

-----

"Hermione, what's wrong with you?" Ginny asked on the way to the dark forest.

"Is that why you agreed to come?" she asked.

Ginny hesitated for a moment, then answered, "You cannot go alone in this condition."

"What condition?"

"You've taken something, Hermione! I can see it in your eyes. You're going through the first stage and you're burning quickly," she warned. They'd reached the woods and all light had died.

"I've more."

Ginny scoffed. "That's not the issue! That's part of the problem! You know what it does to people!"

"I'll only use it to find Draco. Afterwards, I'll have no need for it. I'll have the Veela curse to watch over us. He'll watch over me. And I'll be fine," she spoke rather quickly.

Ginny knew there was no reasoning with her now. Ambrosia made a person feel like a god. Its essence _made_ them gods.

"Tell me," Ginny asked, ashamed to admit to her curiosity. "What does it feel like?"

Hermione smiled but didn't answer. Instead, she saw a high tree ahead and ran to it, so quickly that Ginny almost missed her departure. She climbed it just as quickly and walked onto the tip of a strong branch a dozen feet above the ground with no fear. "Like I'm in another world!" she yelled down with a bright smile before jumping off.

It made Ginny even more fearful. It was the smile of a madwoman, lost to grief.

-----

Draco opened his eyes, only to be blinded by light. They were in another part of the world entirely. Everything was so different. And what's more, looking out through the glass windows, he saw this other world entirely submerged.

"Where are we?" he asked Om-ree, who had begun to take off her large cloaks and shields and handing them over to the first wizard available. They were all so devoted to her. It sickened him almost.

"We're off-shore. Just beneath it, actually."

"So we're still in China?"

"I didn't say _which_ shore, Mr. Malfoy."

He noticed she had white armor under her cloak, always protected, and that she was slim but destroyed by age and worry. "Did you know Dumbledore back in the day? Is that why he's sent me to you?"

"He knew my mate," she said as they sat down in a private room of the underwater castle. He noticed the walls were a white rock, very old. She closed the door with a single glance and began to prepare them tea. They were in her room.

And he knew. She trusted him.

"My mate died some time ago. I can say it was fun while it lasted. But tell me. Why should I risk the lives of even one of my men to help you?"

"My family, as you may know, comes from a long lineage of evil. Voldemort's back in full form," he began and leaned in. "He wants me to do something I cannot. Actually, I was prepared to do so, before Hermione saved me."

Om-ree smiled. "She 'saved' you?" She still didn't believe him. Maybe her heart had grown cynical. Maybe it was cold to begin with. Maybe she knew what she was talking about.

"When I turned from Voldemort and the Death Eaters, he took it out on my parents. My father's been sent to Azkaban, which he most certainly controls, and my mother's yet to be found. Dumbledore couldn't hide me and Hermione both as we had planned, so he sent me ahead and kept her at Hogwarts where she was still safe," he said, then sipped his tea.

"And I expect you want me to get her out."

"No. She's safe for now. I ask for sanctuary, till the time comes that I may find her."

She looked at him over the rim of her large tea cup. "If I harbor you, boy, I put my men in danger."

"Do you care?" he asked callously.

She smiled. "Not really. But if you put _me_ in trouble, they will kill you and offer your body to the highest bidder. Do you understand?" He nodded. "Now what is this Voldemort asks you to do?"

He explained the plot against Dumbledore and Snape's promise to his mother. She looked extremely harried. She was on her fifth cup of tea by the time he was done.

"He's not safe," she whispered and wiped a tear. "I think it's time I see an old friend. And you can get your girl."

"We're going back to Hogwarts?"

"First, we must free you of your past before we are to reclaim your future. We must go to the seer."

-----

"Hermione, what is it we're looking for?" Ginny finally asked, tired of walking into the darkness, pretending she didn't see the glowing eyes behind bushes and leaves.

"A portkey."

"In the Dark Woods?"

"I can see it in the distance. This path is clear. They smell the essence. They will not come near."

It didn't comfort Ginny. She took a final look back and sighed. She hated being dragged into this. She hated not having told Harry and Ron. She hated never saying goodbye. And she hated Hermione for turning their world upside down.

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART SEVEN:**

--What's going to happen to Hermione while "under the influence" of the essence?

--What does Om-ree mean to Dumbledore and why is she so willing to safe him? Is that even her real name?

--Why does she insist Hermione isn't Draco's mate?

--What are they going to find at the seer's?

--Will Harry and Ron catch up to Ginny and Hermione?

--Where will the portkey lead?

--Will the Morpheus pendants be enough of a warning?

--Or, what will happen when Draco reaches Hogwarts and she's not there?

--Will they be able to save Dumbledore from Snape?

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	7. Reaching for a Prophecy

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART SEVEN

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"Hermione, what is it we're looking for?" Ginny finally asked, tired of walking into the darkness, pretending she didn't see the glowing eyes behind bushes and leaves.

"A portkey."

"In the Dark Woods?"

"I can see it in the distance. This path is clear. They smell the essence. They will not come near."

It didn't comfort Ginny. She took a final look back and sighed. She hated being dragged into this. She hated not having told Harry and Ron. She hated never saying goodbye. And she hated Hermione for turning their world upside down.

"Do you even know to where it leads?"

"No, but as long as it's anywhere but here, we'll be fine."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm desperate here, Ginny," she said, sending a tree trunk that was lying in their path flying high over the woods. Ginny followed it with her eyes and stopped to wait for the crash in the distance. It splashed when it hit the lake. It scared the wits out of her. Hermione was far away. She ran to catch up, never once thinking to turn back.

"You think Lucius has done something to him? Is that why we're going to Azkaban?" Ginny asked, trying to keep her talking. It comforted _her_ more than Hermione.

"I dunno," Hermione said, wiping the blood flowing from her nose on the back of her hand. She didn't even notice she was bleeding. Ginny handed her her white handkerchief. She didn't understand so Ginny gestured under her own nose and handed it to her. Hermione wiped off the blood and looked at the handkerchief. She finally stopped walking and stared at the blood. She absentmindedly thanked her and kept the stained cloth in her tight grip, mainly as a reminder. It took a bit for her to realize her mortality. It didn't deter her though.

They got to a point where Hermione became lost. They had not strayed from the path. The path just stopped.

"Are we there? Where's the portkey?" Ginny asked, watching her stare at the night sky, circling in a spot, slightly desperate.

"Yes, we're here. But I can't find it."

"I thought it was bright to you or something."

"It is. But look," she said, gesturing upward at the starry sky. "They're all bright."

She was right. Every star in the distance was bright, abnormally so. It was almost as if they were close enough to touch. That's when realization sparked in Hermione. She extended her arm up to the sky and tried to grab one, her feet lifting off the ground as if sensing her notion.

She floated high above Ginny's head. She stared up, trying to see what Hermione saw. She knew it wasn't the same but at some point, she was almost positive as star had removed itself from the dark sky and drifted down to Hermione's open hand like a snitch to a seeker. She tried not to think of Harry but everything reminded her of him.

Hermione started to lower down to the ground with the star floating just over her open palm. She looked at Ginny with bright, determined eyes, and commanded her, "We go on three… One. Two… Three."

-----

Draco had seen many seers before but never a child. This one, like all the others he'd seen, was used for information. She was a slave to a neutral side, which was slightly nobler he supposed. She couldn't have been more than 10 and had short blonde hair like it'd been cut off with a knife because parts were on fire. Draco wasn't sure where that door had led but there was no way this seer was from Hong Kong.

"Ask her," Om-ree ordered, as if he were one of her men. He knew he was immune of her charms, because of his blood, but he felt compelled to do so anyway.

He sat down on the large pillow in front of her. The girl sat staring forward, just over his head, on a large alter-like platform. She was so creepy that it was even a little bit funny. Then he saw she wasn't concentrating or meditating. She was blind. Her irises were white but he knew they had once been blue.

"What's your name?" he asked. Om-ree rolled her eyes.

"That's not what you want to know," the girl said. There was very little of a girl left in there, just a shell. Sight was very damaging to someone like her, a prisoner.

"If you know what I need to know, why don't you just tell me?" he replied, trying to sound as sweet and calm as he could. He felt great pity for her.

"I know what you need, don't need, and want. There's a big difference. I cannot reveal what you must not know yet."

"So you can only answer my questions, no?"

"Yes. Thus we are absolved of blame."

He raised an eyebrow. "Damn. So I could ask you who'll win the next Wizard Cup and you--"

"Malfoy, be serious!" Om-ree yelled, her arms crossed behind him. He smiled. The girl smiled too, which made him wonder whether or not she was really blind. Seers saw past and future, not present.

"Please…" he said softly. "Tell me what you see. Will I make it back to Hermione, to Hogwarts?"

She smiled more. "Is that what you're worried about?"

"No… What is my role in this war?" he asked seriously.

"You're afraid you have no side. You're afraid of getting caught in the middle?"

He nodded.

"Don't worry, Draco. You're not going to end this war. Hell, you're not even going to start it. If you think it's bad now, I pray you never meet your true self."

"Whoa… my true self? What the hell's that?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about. Not yet. It will flourish in you, from your hate. It cannot be called by gender or name. It is a part of you, a part that you were meant to play from birth. The only way to stop this…" she said, then tilted her head as if trying to find another angle to him. "To kill a tree, kill it from the inside. Tear out the roots and it dies."

"My father?"

"He will die. But it will not be up to you. Your mother will be fine. She will not mourn, as I'm sure you know. Now do you want the answer to your first question?"

He smiled, a little more relieved that his father's death would not be by his hand and his mother would be fine. But Hermione. "Will I see her again?"

"You will see her before this tree. She will kill it for you. She knows loyalty you do not. She knows the truth of your bond in her mind, and has taken great steps to keep it from herself."

"I don't want her to. I've involved her too much."

"You're worried she's becoming like you?"

"Can you tell?"

The girl then did something that scared him so much, he would have crawled to leave the tent. She looked at him. Not at the void over his head. She looked straight at him and smiled.

"Every girl dreams of romance, Draco. Of course I can tell. If – If you survive the fall, bring her before me. There's something she has to know. Only she can understand. Please," she said, talking as if she saw him clear as day. Then she got serious again and returned to staring at her spot of emptiness.

He stood up and realized Om-ree had gone. He looked down at his watch. It'd taken longer than he thought. He looked at the door, then back at her. "I'll come back. I promise."

"I can't see that," she replied, shedding a tear. "Promises mean nothing to us. You'll come back, yes. You'll survive Hogwarts and you'll see your girl. But promise you'll come back as one. If the fall breaks you in two, kill the evil one. If it breaks you in three, sew yourself back together. Promise _yourself_ that!"

He knew there was no way he would ever understand her till he was before these great obstacles. For all he knew, he'd have to use real yarn to sew himself back together. He took whatever comfort he could.

He walked towards her, kissed her on the forehead, and headed out into the sun. It never shut off there, even underwater. He took comfort in that too, the eternal light. It reminded him of Hermione.

And then it hit him, Om-ree's worry. He ran back inside and asked her, breathlessly, "Is she my mate?"

She didn't answer. She was already gone, if she was ever really there.

-----

Harry and Ron returned to Hogwarts empty-handed. They hadn't been able to find her, but at least they knew from Hagrid, who had seen her and Ginny go into the woods, that she was not alone. He hadn't told them about the Essence. He didn't tell Dumbledore, though he was already aware, in that special way Dumbledore always knows.

Neville came running down the halls, through the hurried crowds. Ron stopped him easily, being so much taller. They waited till he caught his breath.

"They're sick!" he yelled. "Hurry!"

He led them to the infirmary in the other direction. The moment they opened the door, they felt it… the pestilence in the air. It wasn't the illness itself. It was not airborne. It was the curse that had befallen upon the castle. It had never been so strong.

"What's wrong with them?" Harry asked Madame Pomfrey who looked frayed and overworked.

"I don't know," she responded, staring at the endless rows of sick children. "It's like they haven't any energy left. It's just been… sucked out of them."

Harry thought he saw her shed a tear but it could have been his imagination.

-----

"You look amazing," he told her in his dreams. She was wearing a long blue dress, midnight blue, that hugged her shoulders weightlessly and showed her neckline. It enticed him but kept him at a distance. He could never disturb such an image. It wasn't the real her but it would do.

He stood in the dark abyss with one hand on her waist, the other caressing her hair. It was not as fluffy and untamed as usual. It flowed gracefully in the unseen, unfeeling wind. Her skin seemed pale but no more than his own.

"I'm not real, darling," she answered, though her voice seemed distance.

"You're real enough."

"You've given up on her, then. She's still out there Draco. She's awake, looking for you."

He gasped like something cold had suddenly overtaken him. "We're not alone," he whispered. "They're faceless. They're everywhere."

"It's just shadows, Draco," she said sweetly.

He gasped again, so sharply that when he opened his eyes, he was awake. But the feeling was still there. The empty faces, staring him down with eyes full of blame.

"You dreamt of her?" Om-ree asked. She'd been working on the desk in the room, writing a letter with great enthusiasm. He looked around. It was _her_ room. A gray owl sat on her shoulder, reading as she wrote. He looked at the cage in the far, dark corner. It was still covered by a gray sheet. It wasn't for the owl.

He stood from the bed and walked to the cage. She saw him move in the corner of her eye but did nothing. She supposed it was time.

He stared at it before slowly lifting the gray sheet…

-----

Hermione closed her eyes and held onto Ginny's hand but all she could hear were her screams in the far distance.

"Hold on!" she yelled. "Just hold on, Gin!"

But her screams faded into the background. At one point, it all went quiet. She could hear Ginny's heavy breathing but the world went quiet. She opened her eyes and found the forest gone.

Ginny was shivering before her, her eyes closed shut and covered in cold water from head to toe. The air smelled of broken dreams. They were in the middle of a dusty room, old as time. Hermione prayed they were far from Hogwarts.

She let go of Ginny and ran to the old wooden door, pulled it from its hinges, and running outside. As soon as she heard that soothing sound of morning, of birds and… life, she began to laugh. She could see her breath in the cold air but she didn't care.

Ginny ran up behind her. "Where are we?" she asked.

"I have no clue. Isn't it marvelous?"

"Hermione, we just popped up in the middle of a shack in the middle of nowhere. You damn well better have SOME idea of where the hell we're going!"

"Look there," Hermione pointed across the lush grass onto a small town below the cliff. "What do you say we stop off for a bit of rest?"

"Rest?"

"It's about time I did a bit of dreaming... and about time you had a bath."

-----

The illness was spreading at Hogwarts, if one could even call it an illness. It had no symptoms. Students just collapsed, after hours of drained energy. Some went to sleep and never woke up. One boy fell asleep in the astronomy tower with his girlfriend. Another girl in Hufflepuff crashed on her broom. Some suffered class and potion related injuries. Dean lay in a bed in the hospital wing, his eyebrows once again singed off.

Harry and Ron came back to the ward as often as they could, during dinners and between classes. Something drew them to it.

"It's like they're waiting for something," Ron said, his fist under his chin, sitting forward in a chair beside Dean's bed.

"Well that's… awfully deep."

He rested back in the chair, sliding down. "I dunno. Maybe I'm trying to compensate for Hermione's--"

Harry smirked. "No. You just miss her."

"She's been gone for a while," he said, staring at the ceiling with an inquisitive look upon his face. Harry noticed he was looking quite older, though not all too wiser. "Was she ever really here?"

"Ugh. You're the most depressing sort of Hallmark card, do you know?" Harry joked. "You're the kind that's always stacked in a dark corner in the back of the store, past the good porn and the diapers."

"What the bloody hell's a Hallmark?"

"I don't know Ron. I just don't know," he said, about to get up when he noticed Ron slide down the edge of the chair, onto his knees, and face first on the cold floor. Harry looked up at Pomfrey who saw his petrified face and said, "Madame, I think we're going to need another bed."

-----

Draco let the gray sheet fall to floor. "What is this?" he asked. Om-ree didn't turn around. He asked it again, louder.

"It's a phoenix. Can't you tell?" she replied.

Draco looked at the sickly little thing. "This is not a phoenix. What's happened to it? Is it sick?"

She smiled. "Lovesick, maybe. Though she'll never admit it."

"How do you know Dumbledore, Om-ree?" She turned around slowly. He asked it again. He always had to ask her twice. The cold silence was not enough to break her.

"Once, a long time ago, he meant a great deal to me."

Draco looked down. "Then we'd better hurry. If I'm not there in time, Snape will kill him."

"If we're not there in time, he'll kill me too…"

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART EIGHT:**

--What's the meaning behind the seer's words?

--Who placed the portkey in the forest?

--Where did Ginny and Hermione land?

--Why are the children going to sleep?

--Whose are the empty eyes that follow Draco?

--Why would Om-ree die if Dumbledore did?

--When will lost lovers meet?

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	8. Sea of Souls

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART EIGHT

-----

The town was somewhat gauche, but Hermione liked it. The townspeople were real and honest and just happy to have visitors, especially two pretty girls. The very young and the very old could sense something was wrong with Hermione. They would shake their heads in pity or disapproval, or cry in fear. Only Ginny seemed to notice the onlookers' faces.

Walking down to the town, to the inn, they were looked upon like parade floats on Christmas morn. "Do you think they know?" Hermione asked, quietly.

"It was your choice. You should be able to bear it before the world," Ginny responded.

Hermione scoffed. "I meant if they're wizards too."

"I meant what I said."

"Then why are you here, Ginny?" Hermione yelled, stopping just before the old entrance to the inn.

"Who's going to watch over you when you run out of that stuff and you fall back down to earth? Draco? Is he here now? Do you think he'd like what you've turned into?" she replied, first fueled with anger then softened by pity.

She pushed in the doors to the inn and walked to the front desk. A blonde young man with a mushroom cut and light blue eyes greeted her with a smile. He had profound cheekbones and donned old clothes but he still looked well put together. She smiled back and signed the registry. She pondered whether to sign her name but ended up writing "Lily P." Why, she didn't know and didn't really want to think about it. She had enough psychological problems to deal with.

"A room for one?" he asked.

She wondered if he was flirting with her. He kept stealing glances.

"For two. I'm traveling with a friend. She's ill and I need to keep an eye on her," she replied. Hermione walked in after that with a slightly darker expression.

"I see," he said, noticing her eyes and the way they collected light from the room like small vacuums in space. Hermione could feel Ginny's embarrassment, could see her lowered head trying to make herself invisible. "You're in room 12."

Ginny smiled him a thank you, took the key, and headed down the corridor. Hermione stayed for a second, looking over the boy. He wasn't afraid. He had seen Essence before. She smiled deviously, thinking she could use him later, and followed Ginny.

The room was simple. There were two beds with a large window at the far end. The walls were wood. Portraits hung were painted by talented townsfolk and made the simplest face or the loneliest landscape seem beautiful because they were drawn by the people that truly knew them best. It did nothing to liven the room though. The beds were plain and white and reminded Ginny of the boy at the front desk and his loose white shirt. There were no mints on the pillows. There were no phones or a pool on the third floor. But it would do.

Hermione looked into the bathroom. It was marvelously clean. She sighed and joyously announced, "I'm going to take a shower. Don't wait up."

"Want to be clean squeaky clean for when you see Drakey?"

"Ugh. I can't believe you just said that. Don't say his name like that, even in jest. I might vomit," she replied.

Ginny laughed and looked down. She was filthy too, from the shack, and decided both needed new outfits. "I'm going into town to get some clothes, okay?" she yelled through the bathroom door. "Will you please stay still till I come back? Go to sleep, alright?"

There was a moment of silence. "I'll be here." And the shower started to run.

She hurried past the front desk towards the door. "Ms. Lily?" the boy said. "Are you alright? Is there something you need?"

She furrowed her brow. He didn't want her to leave the room, she figured, which made her start doubting his intentions. Hermione's paranoia was hitting her too. She tried to shake it off.

"You shouldn't leave your friend alone," he said sweetly.

She smiled lightly. "Could you please make sure she doesn't leave? If anything, tie her up," she semi-joked.

"Uh… I'm not sure… Hell I'm positive I'm not strong enough to go against--"

"You know?"

"Too well."

She paused and closed the door. "What's your name?" she asked seriously.

"Adlai."

"Well Adlai, if it comes to it, don't get hurt, ok?" she said and put her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks."

He smiled and saw her go through the door before it hit him. "Wait!" he yelled, running out from behind the counter. "Go down Main until you see a store called Lena's with a yellow dress in the window. Tell them I sent you."

She didn't say anything, just gave a nod and a smile, and went on her way with worry wrapping itself around her like an anaconda, choking her every second she strayed from Hogwarts.

-----

"There's got to be a pattern. Why aren't we getting sick?" Harry asked Madame Pomfrey, standing over Ron's sleeping body. He looked paler than ever.

"It's not a sickness, Harry. You're thinking like a Muggle. It's not meant to be treated. They're alive. They'll remain alive. As soon as enough energy's been taken from them, it moves to another person and sucks it from them and so on. It's not killing. It's just… collecting," Dumbledore said beside Pomfrey.

She was starting to worry about him. He was looking tired, but who wouldn't? "We've had to add wings to the castle! It's getting to be too much!" she hissed, holding onto her forehead.

"How many have gone asleep?"

"Over a hundred."

Harry leaned forward. "Could it be…"

"No. This is not the work of Voldemort," Dumbledore corrected. "He's not… He can't reach this far into Hogwarts."

"Are you sure, Professor? What about Quirrell? And his diary? And Slytherin House, for crying out loud!"

Dumbledore frowned. "Voldemort has never set a foot in this school, understand? His minions and his egos have, perhaps, but never himself. To do this kind of damage, you need a link or proximity."

"You've seen this before?"

"Not like this but we've all heard the stories."

Pomfrey slowly faced him, realization dawning on her face like a veil had been lifted. "But who could have been so stupid?" she whispered.

Harry looked at them both across Ron's bed. "What is it?" he asked.

Dumbledore looked at him over his half-moon glasses, sighed, and began to explain.

-----

Hermione came down the hallway towards the main entrance in her same clothes but several pounds of dirt lighter. "Excuse me, miss?" Adlai said. "I was instructed not to let you leave."

"You're going to try to stop me?"

"If I must."

She raised an eyebrow. Something about him ticked her off. "Where did she go?"

"Lena's. Yellow dress."

"Gotcha. I'll go find her." He raised a similar eyebrow. "Boy, you know what I can do. But you don't know who I am. I'll be back… with my friend."

And she left.

----

Draco had been prepared for the return to Hogwarts. He was outfitted with a steel-like armor engraved with two dragons facing each other, a heart in the middle with a scuff along the left.

"Excuse me, can you be rid of this scrape on the central heart?" he asked one of the tailors.

Om-ree walked in just then. He began to think she waited just for the right moment to enter a room. She knew how to make an entrance. She reminded him of Dumbledore. "No," she said. "It's part of the design."

"Why?"

"There is no perfect heart, no perfect romance. It's all over sanctuary. The scuffed heart." He raised an eyebrow. "They've sent for you. Albus is worried."

"They've what? Aren't we going to Hogwarts?" he said, stepped away from the tailors and down to Om-ree. She suddenly looked very old, much so than usual. It was the name. Hogwarts. It was the thought of returning.

"They've sent a bodyguard. That's all. It seems even Dumbledore cannot trust you will not fall to my charms," she joked, picking up a small box from the dresser.

"He sent a woman? Is it--"

"No," she said softly. "At least… I hope not."

That didn't reassure him. He shot her a small look as if to say she should watch her language and went out into the hall where she stood, his bodyguard… short, gangly, and pink.

-----

Hermione found the place quickly. The yellow dress was the most obvious sign. It shone through like a lighthouse beacon. And yet, the place was empty. Ginny was looking at herself in the mirror. The old lady, presumably Lena, was bringing in more clothes from the back.

"Oh! There are two of you! How wonderful!" she greeted when she saw Hermione walk in.

"Ginny, what's going on?" she asked.

Ginny turned from the mirror and smiled. It was a strange smile. It was a pretty smile. She realized Ginny did not always have the resources to feel special or beautiful. Hermione wouldn't spoil it for her.

"We don't get many young ladies around here. I keep making the dresses but no one comes. So I give them to you, as a gesture, to bring more our way," the lady said, dropping a pile of clothing onto Hermione's arms. "Go try them on."

Hermione stared at the pile. They _were_ lovely.

"Pick something royal," Ginny said. "To wear in your dreams."

-----

"Are you kidding me?" Draco yelled. "_You're_ who they sent?"

Tonks leaned away from the wall, her hair turned suddenly red. She walked towards him, angry, and he slowly retreated. "Are you in danger, you snot-nosed brat? Because I assure you, the hive only listens to their queen. Something goes down, they'll leave you so quickly your head will spin. Be grateful I even showed up," she said, poking him in the forehead. He realized he'd been cornered. And yes, he was scared of her, which meant she was somewhat of a worthy warrior.

"Alright. I'll shut up."

She cleared her throat and took a step back. Her hair went down to blonde. "If they ask, I'm a Veela, capisce?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, starting to walk down the hall towards Om-ree's room.

"Dumbledore's order. Om-ree obviously knows but if we get caught, I'm a Veela."

"Why?"

"Voldemort values Veelas. He uses them all the time. Your father, a quarter of France…"

"That explains the kisses."

She stopped walking and opened her eyes wide. "From Voldemort?"

"From the French."

She laughed. "Do me a favor?" she asked.

"What?"

"Stop talking!"

He raised an eyebrow but obeyed. She was an Auror after all. She had to know what she was doing. She had to be able to protect him. She had to be there, right? He could trust Dumbledore, right? He stopped and gulped, took a deep breathe and walked into Om-Ree's room, thinking now more than ever what Hermione was doing at that very moment.

-----

"Do you think this makes me look fat?" she asked.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Ginny, you could be a 300-pound suit and you'd still look skinny as a stick."

"Are we done?"

"Not even close," Hermione responded, looking at her face in the mirror. She seemed older, especially around the eyes. Their new color astounded her. She looked… inhuman. When she thought about it, it was obvious. Draco would know.

"I meant with the clothes."

"I've been here 15 minutes!"

"We just need to get through Azkaban, right?" she asked.

Hermione nodded. She picked up a small pile of robes and walked out, saying goodbye to her childhood. She thought of Azkaban and figured this was the last she'd ever see of the inside of a clothing store. She wished she'd worn more pink.

They got back to the hotel and Adlai stopped Ginny. Hermione went inside the room, straight to bed.

"I've something for you," he said, handing her a small vial of light blue liquid. "It's for when she starts coming down."

"What? Where did you get this?"

"My mum went through it. Government experiment. They came up with this cure to the addiction, but her body still has to gather together again, regain her control. Does she have someone close?" he asked.

"He's gone missing. We're trying to find him. It's why she took the Essence," she whispered back. "Thank you."

She was about to turn around, the clothes still in her arms, when he caught her arm and took her behind the front desk. "Take me with you," he whispered.

"What?" she yelled.

"I know you don't know me but I can tell what she is and what you are and I can guess where you're coming from. I can see things, Lily. Future, past… I know you're going to Azkaban," he said.

She looked up into his eyes with a furrowed brow. "You're a seer?" He nodded. "Why do you want to leave?"

"I want adventure. You two? You know adventure. You have a destiny you don't even know about. And because I've seen it. I knew it the moment you walked in. You're who I've been waiting for. You in that yellow dress. I've seen you in my dreams for years."

"Ginny," she whispered a bit later, staring at their feet.

"What?"

"My name's not Lily. It's Ginny. And yes, Adlai… Get your things together and wait here for me."

Ginny went back into the room, wondering whether or not she could trust him. She opened the door and Hermione was getting into bed. "You're going to see him?" she asked softly. Hermione could read her small shock.

"I have to try."

"Are you going to tell him about his father?"

"He doesn't need to know."

Ginny nodded, her thoughts still in another world. She put the clothes down onto her bed and went to sit beside Hermione's. She took her hand and said, "I'll be here. Clutch my hand if you need to wake."

And just like that, Hermione drifted off into her own world, the one she created just for them both… only to find they were not alone.

-----

"Malfoy, what's wrong?" Tonks asked, flying beside him on her broom.

"There's something wrong. Something's different," he replied. They flew towards the nearest portkey, outside the forest in Hong Kong. From there, it took them to Scotland, far from Hogwarts but nothing could get inside it, nothing they knew of. There were no floo networks nearby. Nothing penetrated Hogwarts, not even Voldemort.

"Is it Hermione? That's her name, right?" she asked. She seemed sincere and honestly worried. He had a distance face, like he lived elsewhere in his head.

"I feel… people. They watch us."

"We're being followed?" She seemed alarmed and looked around but the sky was clear for miles on end. It was empty land, empty sky. The sun was just going down.

"No. Just me. I think I can hear them sometimes, when I'm flying especially."

"You know, there was an old wizard from Chile that taught at the academy. I had the pleasure of meeting him once. He was an avid flyer as a child and more so into adulthood. When I asked him why he'd stopped, he told me that he'd lost something. He said there was peace in flying. It took away thought. He did it on instinct, as any true flyer would, almost like meditation. He said he was too old to give away his thoughts. He was too old to lose himself and that he needed to hold onto the notion of reality as long as he could," she said, stopping to see his reaction. "Where do you go when think of her? What reality?"

"Many. We're linked by our dreams. She tried to contact me once while I slept. There was a mistake. Now I bare another mark. It follows. She follows me with it," he replied.

"I don't think it's her, then. I don't know much about Morpheus pendants. I can't even fathom being a Veela. But if it guides you, I'd say listen to it and chose to follow later. It might lead you to her."

He thought about it. Maybe she was right. So he closed his eyes and put out his hand for her to take. "Catch me if I fall," he said.

And he thought of Hermione.

-----

Her dreams were empty. Just endless white space, a room that was crowded and infinite at the same time. She couldn't see him but she felt him, recognized his soul.

"Ron?" Hermione asked. "Is that you?"

"We're here, Hermione," he replied in the form of an echo.

"I can't see you Ron. Where are you?"

She extended her hand and felt nothing but a light breeze. She thought of the jungle and Draco but not even his thought could comfort her in the void. And then he came. She could feel him too, lost within a sea of souls.

"Open your eyes, Hermione," they told her, this sea.

When she did, she did not wake. She shifted into the world beyond the void, beyond the dream. She saw the sea, the endless faces encircling her.

"What is this?" she yelled. They all seemed so familiar. "Who are these people? Are you… are you ghosts?"

"No, 'Mione. We're here for you. You called. We answered," Ron replied. His voice was loud amongst the whispering crowd.

"Hermione? Who are these people?" Draco asked.

"Draco? Baby, where are you?" she asked. The other voices took their cue to leave. She could only see Draco.

"Hong Kong," he whispered. He was getting farther away.

"Draco!" she yelled. "Draco, come back!"

"I can't. I'm falling…"

-----

Draco opened his eyes and saw Tonks, upside down on her broom, yelling for him to wake. His broom hovered beside him and he dangled from her hand over a grand cloud below.

He called for his broom and remounted it but the feeling that he was not alone kept with him. Even after he rode on as if nothing had happened and he had not seen her face, he could still feel her touch all over him like a blanket. And when he blinked, there she was again. And when he breathed, he smelled her. And he felt better, like he was going home to her time and time again.

-----

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**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART NINE:**

--Can Adlai be trusted? Is he really a seer?

--What's going to happen with him and Ginny?

--Why the yellow dress?

--Will they reach Hogwarts in time to stop Snape?

--What's the link between the illness at Hogwarts and Hermione's dreams?

--Why did Dumbledore send Tonks?

--Will Hermione reach Azkaban?

--What will Lucius have to say?

--What happens when Draco reaches home?

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**Tell me what you think! REVIEW!**

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	9. Fall of Troy

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART NINE

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Forgive the brevity. There was just no other end. This chapter is quick because a long time is covered, if that makes any sense to you. Time lost is recovered later. There's no point in dwelling on the details. I hope no one's forgotten Troy. And don't worry. We're not exactly near the end. _

_By the way, my MySpace has been updated! Tune in for news! And the sequel to the Quarter Moon Gamble is officially available on my profile. Just click on my name, NeuroticMuse413, above. I thank you all; you know who you are. _

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Hermione did not wake. She tried to escape, pounding on the walls of her imagination with as much strength as she could muster, knowing all too well she was her own captor. She knew he stood behind her, watching her always. She knew it wasn't really him.

"Stop that," she said. "It's not you. You're not…"

"Does it matter?" the phantom Draco asked. He was ghostly, like a shadow in the corner of her eye.

"No," she whimpered. "Are you leaving?"

"I can never leave, Hermione. I'm that part of him that is always with you."

"Why show yourself now?"

"Because you need me the most now, love. You called for me, so loudly I crept from the shadows to be with you."

She turned and faced him. His ghostliness faded when she met his eyes. He wasn't clear, as all dreams never are, but she still recognized his essence. He could never replace the Draco she spent all those nights with in bed, in the jungle, in the lake… but she took advantage of her dreams and her captivity. Before her tears could catch up, she hugged her ghost so tightly that the tears of pain flowed through into reality, scaring Ginny.

"Don't leave me…" she whispered to lonely hotel room.

Ginny tightened her grip on her hand. It didn't help. She was growing a cold sweat and breathing erratically. Ginny called out for Adlai to come. He didn't. She called for him again, so loud that her heart trembled between her lungs. He came running in, holding his own chest in fright.

"What's happened? What's going on?" he asked, kneeling down beside them both.

Ginny took her hand away and let Adlai try to wake her. He pulled out his wand and demanded she wake but nothing. Of course, it was foolish to think his magic might counteract the Essence but it was worth a try. Now, with no other option, they finally felt hopeless and could do nothing but wait.

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Draco and Tonks arrived at Hogwarts, only to find it enveloped by snow.

"What the bloody hell's happened here?" Om-ree asked, getting off her horse. They had abandoned the brooms a few miles back. She said she could feel a field in the distance, a dome blocking magic from penetrating. Someone was "preserving" Hogwarts. Now, they saw why. A great spell had befallen Hogwarts.

"Something wicked this way comes…" joked Draco.

Om-ree was not amused. "Someone's been wicked, alright," she growled. "Wicked isn't coming. It's already here. It's taken over. Damn your foolishness, Dumbledore."

"Why do you blame _him_? What happened between you two?" he asked, tired of her mystery and riddles. She didn't answer him, only looked ahead tearfully. It was the weakest he'd ever seen her.

"Are you going to be my Yoda, now?"

"Your what?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him through the corner of her eye. "What passes for education these days?"

"Stop changing the subject! What happened between you two?" he demanded, pulling on the reins of his horse. The wizards behind him all hurried to stop their own horses from stampeding into each other. They complained but Draco ignored them, staring at Om-ree's wrinkled face for a response.

He jumped off, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. She sighed and looked down, fumbling her hands. "I knew his brother. He was my mate."

"Your… mate? Not Albus?"

She shook her head. "Not Albus. Aberforth."

Both his eyebrows shot up in the air. "The one with the goat?"

"Goat? He hates goats!" she said rapidly. "What do you mean goats?"

"I dunno! He disappeared a few decades ago. Supposedly went insane or something. He got into trouble with the Ministry for doing something with a goat," he replied loudly. "This is your mate?"

She looked angry. No, beyond angry. She was out for blood.

"Om-ree?" he asked, scared, watching a crimson red take over her pale exterior.

She jumped back onto her horse with the agility of a woman 120 years younger and rode with the wind, through the snow and ice as if it were concrete, all the way to the front door of Hogwarts. Draco and her followers tried to catch up to her but she was too quick and she seemed to blend into the snowy background in the distance. Draco cursed to himself and tried to catch up.

When he got inside, it was too late. She had disappeared inside. It was endless. She'd never find her. He'd have to find Dumbledore. He stormed through the classrooms, to the one person he knew could help him find him. "Professor?" he said, pushing in the doors to the classroom. It was half empty but the remaining students all turned around to look at him, scared by the thunderous entrance and enlightened by the news of his sudden reappearance.

"Mr. Malfoy?" McGonagall said. "What are you doing here?"

He looked around to see if Hermione was in her usual seat. She wasn't. His heart dropped into his stomach. He'd hoped so much. "I need to find Dumbledore!" he yelled. His breathless voice echoed in the old castle. The students dashed their eyes from Draco to McGonagall and back to Draco like a trashy soap opera. "NOW!"

"Class, review chapters 13 and 14. I'll return in a moment," she said, setting down a book she had in hand. She grasped his arm and led him out into the hall. "What's happened? We thought you'd been taken. Is Dumbledore alright?"

"He won't be for long," he warned and she began to run towards his office. It was open, which scared her. They got upstairs to find Om-ree on one side of the room, staring him down, and Dumbledore standing before his desk with the face of a man who'd just met his wife's mistress.

"Professor!" he yelled. "Om-ree, calm down. What's going on between you two?"

"Elizabeth?" McGonagall asked, staring at her with wide-open eyes.

"Who?" Draco asked.

"Elizabeth Ike," Dumbledore said softly. "As I live and breathe."

"Not for long," she warned. "Draco, sick 'im!"

"What? I thought we were here to stop him from _getting_ killed. Now you want me to kill him? Do it your own damn self!" he yelled, tired of being put in the middle.

He came out from behind his desk and walked towards her. She sniffed and stiffened up. He put a hand on her arm and she shivered. "You're not allowed to touch me," she whispered.

"It never stopped me before, Eli."

"I thought her name was Om-ree," Draco whispered to McGonagall.

"Om-ree is a rank, Mr. Malfoy. It means 'Queen.'"

Realization hit him like getting slapped by an anvil across the face. He didn't know this woman. He had brought her to Dumbledore without really trusting her. He had told her his secrets. He'd empathized with a ghost.

"You lied to me, Albus," she said, not moving her arm. "You told me he was dead."

"He asked me to, Eli, I promise."

At the word, she pulled away quickly, slapping him before Draco could even blink. McGonagall nudged him towards the two seats in front of Dumbledore's desk and they quickly and quietly slithered over to watch. Draco turned the chairs around and McGonagall conjured up some popcorn to watch them. They didn't even notice they had an audience.

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Draco asked her.

McGonagall shushed him then whispered, "Around 50 years ago, Elizabeth was mated with Aberforth, Professor Dumbledore's brother. When the war started with Voldemort, well things got bad. Veelas went to his side. Aberforth went with the Order…"

Just then, Tonks came running up the stairs into the room. They still didn't notice her, even as she ran to sit beside Draco and McGonagall. He kept trying to convince her of something, with very kind eyes, and she just turned around and insisted he was lying.

And then… it got bad. "Tell me the truth!" she demanded once again.

Fawkes seemed angry. He opened his wings wide and Elizabeth stopped. She looked at him sweetly, and walked over to caress his beak. "He was waiting for you I think. He's quite overdue," Dumbledore said, returning to calm.

"Why a goat?" she asked.

"I told him Voldemort found out about you and turned you into a goat. He was going insane. He believed the first thing I told him. It comforted him," he said as if nothing. Draco laughed in the distance.

"Did you really hate me that much?"

He closed his eyes, trying to contain himself. "I _loved_ you that much."

"Loved? Ha! He was your brother and you were jealous!"

McGonagall choked on her popcorn. She suddenly decided they should not be privy to this sort of conversation and insisted they leave. She and Tonks left, reluctantly, but Draco stayed behind. He had come there for a reason and no family squabble that happened 50 years ago was going to make him forget about Hermione or Voldemort or his mother.

"Stop this!" he yelled. Eli and Dumbledore turned around quickly, realizing he was there. "Where. Is. Hermione."

Dumbledore looked down, as if he didn't dare tell him he'd let her go… lost her.

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Ginny became accustomed to life in the town. She didn't dare leave. They couldn't even move Hermione. Every time they tried, it was like she suddenly weighed three tons. She was holding on to him and to that instant with all her might. A week passed and she and Adlai became close, often spending nights on the floor of the kitchen talking over food. He knew she had Harry back home, at least the image of him still waiting for her. She hadn't a clue how to get in touch with them. There wasn't a bird for miles, let alone an owl.

She liked to walk through the town. It was very simple and very old, dreary but charming and warm. She walked by the window of Lena's every day and looked at the yellow dress. It grew on her, the way Adlai's presence grew on her and the way he seemed to know everything before she said it. He had a certain magic to him, unlike anyone she'd ever met. But then again, Harry was unlike anyone, period.

On the 7th day after her arrival, she got the dress. Lena refused to let her pay for it. On the 15th day, she wore it for him.

She walked into the kitchen that night. He had dinner prepared, even though it was 3AM. They never did live by anyone's standards in the town. It was still bustling outside. When he saw her walk in, her hair up with clips on the sides and little low white shoes, he didn't move. He stared at her for a moment, his jaw by his feet.

She felt like she'd known him for years. She knew she could trust him. And even though Harry's bright green eyes still looked back at her on the inside of her eyelids, she kissed him so sweetly and wholeheartedly that his hand accidentally slipped into the mashed potatoes.

Meanwhile, Hermione slept and dreamt of things Ginny would never do though very much thought about while kissing Adlai against the grandfather clock.

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Harry and Draco prepared for the worst, for Voldemort's attack on Hogwarts. They knew it was coming and feared it still. Soon, the school was left alone. Even the teachers had begun to fall asleep. No one bothered to take the victims up to the hospital wing anymore. They'd be found sooner or later.

Om-ree… Elizabeth was still trying to convince Dumbledore to leave.

Draco dreamed of Hermione every night, remembering her so vividly the next day that he often had to go back into the bathroom for a second cold shower. One day, he couldn't get up for an hour. Somehow, it was keeping him sane. He didn't miss her as much. He worried more, but his body didn't miss her.

He dreamt of her for twenty nights. Twenty sinful nights without her…

And then Voldemort came for Hogwarts and Hermione woke up into a nightmare.

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She knew she was awake but it felt like a dream. The Essence had taken over like a second heart, second brain… second will to live. She could feel Draco's presence at Hogwarts. She could feel his fear and his desire. Those were real. Before Ginny could even notice she had gone, Hermione was walking through the great and infamous Hogwarts grounds into the Great Hall, where he waited for her.

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**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TEN:**

--Who will Hermione find in the Great Hall?

--How did Voldemort get inside?

--Why did Hermione go to sleep for 20 nights? Were they goodbye?

--What happened at Hogwarts during that time?

--What's happening with Ginny and Adlai? Why are they so important?

--What's the Essence's part in the end of Voldemort?

--Will Hogwarts ever wake?

--Will Hermione be too late?

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	10. Dumbledore's Weakness

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART TEN

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _We're not even close to the end, my loves. _

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_It felt like a dream. The Essence had taken over like a second heart, second brain… second will to live. She could feel Draco's presence at Hogwarts. She could feel his fear and his desire. Those were real. Before Ginny could even notice she had gone, Hermione was walking through the great and infamous Hogwarts grounds into the Great Hall, where he waited for her. _

_She walked through a great mist. Everything was in slow motion. Everything was different. Hogwarts was the same but the people had changed. The wind no longer carried the cries of lost lovers. She reached the teacher's table and turned around. She saw herself in the seat beside Draco, laughing over Christmas dinner. She saw the mistletoe and the holly. _

_And just like that, Voldemort walked through the doors and with a great gasp, she was thrust through the mist, past him, and out the doors from whence she came. _

She awoke still in the hotel in the town, alone in her room. "GINNY!" she yelled and she and Adlai came running. "GINNY, HE'S COMING!"

"Whoa, calm down 'Mione. You're fine. You're safe. Who's coming?" Ginny asked as Adlai slipped on the floor beside her trying to catch up.

She started to shake and turn blue. She couldn't speak. She tried and tried until finally she burst out with, "Voldemort!" Ginny jumped up and Adlai came to help but Hermione kept clawing at his arms. "He's coming in a year! To Hogwarts! He's coming!"

"That's impossible," Ginny replied.

"You've seen it!" Hermione turned to Adlai. "The mist and Christmas and the holly…" Adlai stepped back as if having someone else see his nightmares made them all too real. He couldn't breathe and stumbled outside. Ginny saw him leave but didn't follow.

"Alright. Alright, when?"

"Oh my God," she whispered. "This is what Draco was going to tell me on the lake. He's coming for Dumbledore! Voldemort's coming himself. They don't know! They don't know!"

"That's impossible. How's he getting in?" Ginny tried to sound calm but her heart was beating a mile a minute. The sound of it was giving Hermione a headache.

"We need to see Lucius now more than ever. He knows. Agh. I think he tried to stop it. He tried to protect Draco. I felt it. He watched over us in the vision. He pulled me out."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Now I know you've gone mad."

"How long's it been, Ginny?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"20 Nights."

"Oh Lord. Do you think he saw it? The vision? Draco I mean. He shouldn't have. It'll frighten him. He might try to run."

"If I know Draco -- well I don't – but I know he'll wait for you. He loves you, right? He knows you're coming."

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"Don't analyze me," Draco growled, watching the old man drink his tea. He wasn't in the mood for another one of his talks. In the last conference, Harry was brought in and they were to apologize. Harry couldn't get past sarcasm. Draco couldn't stop laughing uncontrollably. The issue of someone's mother was brought about and it started a fist fight. Dumbledore got fed up and kicked them out, but it seemed like he had calmed down.

"It's been nearly a month, Draco. I know you miss her but you needn't take it out on me," he replied.

Draco took his empty tea cup from his lap and set it down on Dumbledore's desk. "It's been 20 days, actually."

He stood up and was about to excuse himself when Dumbledore said, completely ignoring him, "And I know you'd rather eat a long-eared newt than talk to me, but SIT!"

Draco jumped back down into his seat._ I guess he hasn't gotten over it yet,_ he thought.

"Talk to me," he said. "Tell me what you're feeling. I don't know what else to offer you to help you!"

"What? You want me to talk about Hermione? So you can pretend to be goat boy? No thank you." Looking back on it, the goat boy remark may not have been wise. He thought he heard Dumbledore growl but it could have been his imagination, and took out his wand, refilled his cup, and sunk low in his chair.

"I'll forgive that one but keep in mind, even I have a nerve and you're close to striking it."

"I don't want to talk about her… Tell me about you and Om-ree."

"You still call her that, after knowing her name?"

"Don't worry. I have no intention of joining her little slave camp." He sipped. "Stop avoiding it. For the last week, I've asked to know, from both of you. Tell me the truth. Do you love her?"

"Obviously not in the way you love Hermione, but it was close. She was pompous and rude and would have nothing to do with me. Until, I fell off my broom during Quidditch while at school and she stayed with me. I knew it had to do with Aberforth being away and maybe it was a favor to him, but I did a very evil thing…"

Draco leaned forward. He stopped breathing so to hear everything.

"I kissed her. I couldn't resist it. And then I wanted more. I used magic to get it."

"Oh Lord. My headmaster is a horndog."

"Not that, you silly boy. I tried to break my brother and Eli up. I tried for years to find a cure for the curse."

"Did you get close?"

"I'm not sure. Not to being rid of it. I managed to bottle it, the science of it. It was outstanding. It didn't matter. They left to be married and I found someone knew. And at some point, I stopped thinking about her."

Draco laughed. "Yea right. That's not possible. Where's her picture, professor?"

"What?"

"I have a picture of Hermione in my breast pocket. Where do you keep yours?"

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back. He pondered it, reached down and opened one of his desk drawers and put a small picture, over a 100 years old, atop his papers, then leaned back and stared at it like it was some sort of forbidden thing he was not allowed to touch but couldn't help being fascinated by.

Draco raised an eyebrow. He reached over and picked up the picture. There, within its simple white frame, was Dumbledore as a young boy, hugging Elizabeth for dear life as she laughed uncontrollably. They swayed, as he and Hermione did, as if dancing. He thought of the dreams and blushed slightly. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Draco set it back down and leaned back in his chair as Dumbledore had done, staring at the forbidden moment captured for eternity.

"It's not easy, is it?"

"No. But yours is still here. You still have a chance. I've brought her back. Tell her!"

"She's a Veela, Draco. I can never interfere with that."

"Obviously you already have. And sir… I don't know how strong her lineage is… but I think she still loves you. I know it."

"That's impossible."

Draco stood up. "Maybe. But she'd die without you." Dumbledore looked up. "I wouldn't tell you if she didn't say so herself."

He walked to the door until heard Dumbledore reluctantly call his name. "Draco… there's something you should know… It's about you and Hermione."

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Hermione left Dufftown with Ginny and Adlai, leaving their pasts in that little room. Hermione seemed to want to reclaim it most of all. She knew she'd return and left a shoe behind. She figured it was poetic, a fairy tale. If he followed her trail… If only, if only…

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Draco stormed out of Dumbledore's office. He didn't know whether to hit a wall or cry in a corner. Hell, he ended up doing both. He looked at his hand. He'd broken a knuckle, he was sure. "Goddamn castle stone!" he yelled, cursing generations of architects.

Harry came into the infirmary that day to visit Ron and the rest, only to find Draco on the floor against the bedside table, hidden between two beds.

"The Slytherin section's over there," Harry said callously, gesturing towards the far end of the hospital wing.

"I don't belong there anymore," he responded softly.

"What?"

"I said 'I don't belong there anymore,'" he screamed.

Harry saw it, like a flicker of light in his eyes. The pain. He was all too familiar with it. It'd been eating at him for a year, only to kill him when she left.

"Do me a favor?" Harry said. "Tell me this isn't about Hermione."

"It's about Hermione."

Harry cursed to himself and sat on the edge of Ron's bed. "What'd Dumbledore say? You have that face. I know it too well. He just told you something he's been keeping from you for years… 'for your own good.' Now you're forced to reevaluate your entire life, your friends…"

"Hermione."

"What? Why would you?"

"It wasn't real, Potter. They kept trying to tell me. Om-ree, the Seer… we weren't real."

Harry sighed, thinking whether or not he wanted to hear his mortal enemy throw up his heart. But he stayed for Hermione, because it mattered to her too. And maybe, he thought of Ginny. He thought if two people who were born to love each other for eternity couldn't make it work, what chance did he and Ginny have?

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Ginny was terrified. Hermione had begun to talk to herself, to Ron and Neville like they stood beside her. They'd reached the train station at Roxenburg. They were getting close to Azkaban. Ginny and Adlai wanted to fly the rest of the way but Hermione insisted they take the train. She was trying to prolong the truth. Ron warned her. He knew. He could hear it just inches from Harry and Draco, but she didn't want to believe it.

Azkaban was a haunted legend. It was dark and gloomy and endless like a maze. The Dementors felt her coming and lined the walls to let her through. They were everywhere. There was an endless cold that warned Ginny and Adlai to stay outside, but inside, the cells were dark and hot as hell. Hermione tried not to look at the faces of the prisoners.

And then she saw it, Lucius' cell. He hadn't been kissed by the Dementors yet. He was just kept away like a hidden resource or a china plate meant only for appearances. She knew she should pity him but a man of his evil should never be pitied. He should be left to hang.

"You," he said when he saw her come in. Her jaw stiffened so much, it hurt.

"Yes. Me." Her tone was disdainful. She hated being bitter but he deserved nothing better.

"You've come for me, haven't you? You've come to kill me."

She furrowed her brow. "No. Should you be killed?" she replied, leaning against the cell bars.

"Yes," he whispered. "Many times over. But then you've come for help. Where is Draco?"

She shook her head. "I don't know." She felt ashamed. She felt like she should know where he was at every instant. Veelas are like that. It was an instinct. But then, she couldn't keep up that façade any longer.

"You know everything. If anyone can understand, it's you. You're brilliant, aren't you? Yes, he would only have gone for the brightest. He obviously didn't pick you on looks," he said, staring at her face like she was a television set.

Her expression didn't change. He knew he couldn't coerce her with insults like most people. She had very little ego, mostly pride. Draco would have been attracted to that as well.

"What did you do to us?" she asked, still unchanging. Cold, as he had always been.

"I did not know it would be you."

"Tell me."

"It was a mistake, to keep us in power as our Lord rose."

"TELL ME THE TRUTH!" she yelled.

She looked at his dirty, tired face and saw remorse. For the first time, she saw it. "First, know I never meant for my son get hurt. But when I was at Hogwarts, I ran across a very dark secret. You see, Dumbledore had a weakness. A woman. A Veela, like my family had been centuries ago. Voldemort was recruiting not just rich families. They had to have a ruthless, cut-throat lineage to boot. He could use Veelas, males especially. We'd be safe, have a place in the new order, if I could fake the strength of the line."

"What did you do?" she growled.

"I stole a potion from Dumbledore. I drank it and so met my wife. She couldn't resist me. The desire nearly killed us. And then it died. Voldemort had become all powerful and for a time, my plan had worked. I was in."

She hid her face in her hands. She didn't want to believe the consequences. "How did it pass to Draco?"

"Voldemort wondered why Draco hadn't claimed a mate. I had to give it to him. He needed the desire Veelas impart on others to corrupt Hogwarts. He needed it to kill Dumbledore."

She gulped and continued for him, "Voldemort was going to send Draco to kill him, wasn't he?"

He nodded.

"Dear God, it was all a lie. He and I…"

"You were real, child. You choose to let it die. We all choose. Fight." She gave a small nod and was about to leave when he called out for her. "And can you please tell my son I'm sorry. That I couldn't be there for Narcissa when--"

"I'll tell him. I just don't think he'll forgive you."

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**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART ELEVEN:**

--Where will the final battle be fought?

--Who will win? At what cost?

--What will happen when Ginny and Harry reunite?

--How are Hermione and Draco going to make up those 20 nights?

--Will Om-ree ever forgive Dumbledore?

--Will Hermione and Draco ever forgive each other?

--How far are they willing to go to fight?

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	11. First Wave

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART ELEVEN

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_Special shout-outs to Alyssa, Jeny, Carmen, Meagan, and especially Danielle. You guys rock. Review and I'll try to speed up the next chapter. I've been so busy lately with classes ending. _

_If you haven't heard, The Quarter Moon Gamble (my most infamous story), is being made into a video game. To visit its website, go to my MySpace and enter __**Castle Farrow**_

_And now…_

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Draco walked into Dumbledore's office during lunch. Om-ree was sitting in the chair before his desk and he was kneeling by her side, holding her hand sweetly as she looked away, painfully trying not to cry. For a moment, Draco saw himself and Hermione, pleading her to come back and forgive him for getting her into this. But the image of her was getting fuzzier. He felt like he was forgetting her, even though the need was still there. He realized he was in love with an emotional ghost.

"Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said when he saw him come in, straightening up. "I've got some news for you."

Draco sat down in the seat beside Om-ree and shot her a small smile hello. She faked one back. Neither really wanted to smile but there it was, a ridiculous courtesy. Dumbledore sat in his chair and pondered how he would say it. "What's up?" Draco asked.

"We've heard word."

He looked up at attention. "From Hermione?"

"Ginny. Something's happened to Hermione. She's not right."

"It's the curse."

"No, this is much worse. I'm afraid she'll need a lot from you when she comes back."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Ms. Granger's been asleep all this time. It's a complication of the Essence… of Ambrosia," Om-ree said.

He snapped at her. "WHAT?"

"We believe she took it to help get you back after you went missing."

"But I've been here for a month! She-- She-- Is she coming back… What do you mean she's not right?" he asked, genuinely afraid of receiving a shell.

"As alright as she can be. I don't think she knows the implications. She certainly doesn't know what she's doing to these students," Om-ree said, getting up to go pet Fawks. He looked sickly too.

"She knows," he whispered. "I talk to her sometimes."

Dumbledore and Om-ree looked at each other quickly. "How?" they both asked, firmly and afraid.

"In our dreams. We dream of… well I'd rather not say but sometimes we just talk in this jungle we created," he said, a smile forming beneath his distant eyes.

"Was there a white bed with wooden posts?" Om-ree asked, resisting a tear.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry, Eli," Dumbledore whispered, watching her fall apart.

Draco looked at each and asked, bewildered, "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry. That jungle is not yours. Sadly, it's not even original," Dumbledore began. "I created it from a scene in a book Eli once gave to me. It was where we'd meet when she was away," he said. "I'm sorry, Draco. It's worse than I thought. You're being ruled by ghosts of a romance… What have we done to you, boy? All of us. None of this should have been. This was our life, our sins--"

"Albus, stop!" Om-ree yelled. Everything fell silent, even Fawks. In the distance, the Whomping Willow stopped whomping. Mrs. Norris hid in a dark corner. Everything felt her pain, saw her tears. "It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't a mistake for you to love her, Draco. Forget how it happened. If you love someone, you should fight to be with them. We gave up fighting and look what we turned into!"

Dumbledore sat down again, slowly reaching for his heart beneath his beard. Om-ree saw him in the corner of her eye and realization struck her, stopped her. She closed her eyes and gestured for Draco to leave. He got up and walked to the door, taking one final look. She had a hand over her mouth but it was too late. The truth had already come out.

He went to step out past the gargoyles when the floor shook and he lost his balance. He ran back into Dumbledore's office, about to ask what'd happened when the ground shook again and they heard a great blast in the distance.

"FIRE!" they heard in the distance and the roof shook where the students ran past.

Draco looked at Dumbledore and he to Om-ree and they all knew who it was. A great shadow entered through the window and took over the daylight. "Voldemort," she whispered, and they all ran out outside.

The sun had been nibbled away by the great swarm of Dementors that rounded them. They could not see wizards, only Dementors. Voldemort had not come. He had spent years collecting his soldiers for this, just an attack to weaken them, all-out war to crush them and later collect the pieces. The Dementors formed a great dome over the castle, enveloping them.

And that was the last the wizarding world would see of Hogwarts…

-----

Hermione reached Hogsmeade that night, her soul a tired shadow but her body a buzzing conviction. She saw the darkness in the distance and ran, leaving Ginny and Adlai behind. Three Dementors broke from the dome wall and went to stop her but the image of Draco just past that wall lit something inside her. She couldn't control the Essence anymore and a great light left her every pore, tearing at her soul as it escaped. Ginny and Adlai heard her scream in the distance. Draco felt her scream inside him, shaking him up inside. Om-ree had to catch him before he fell.

"HERMIONE!" they all yelled, but it did not stop her. The light hit the Dementors and it was a hundred times worse than any Patronus they had ever seen. Its fair brilliance burned away the cloaks and they turned to ash before her feet. Ginny and Adlai ran to catch her but she had begun to walk, her arms wide open as if welcoming an embrace.

They'd lost her again.

She walked through the wall as if nothing. The Dementors did not learn to run like most cowardly beings. They walked to the light like moths to fire, proudly to their deaths, trying to put out her light. But nothing. She remained pure and untouched, looking for her lost love.

When Draco saw the light in the distance, he ran towards it without cause. She was calling him to her.

"Draco!" Tonks yelled, running to catch up with him. Om-ree grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the castle but she struggled to get away. "Dumbledore, do something!"

"There's nothing to do, dear. This is as it should be."

"How is _that_ natural?" she spat. He looked at her with apologetic eyes but did nothing. Tonks just stared at him as he disappeared into the distance. She looked up at Om-ree. There was nothing there either. They had become slaves to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Om-ree ran to catch up with Dumbledore and they walked into the light, hand in hand, after Draco. Tonks looked away and ran for help but there was nobody who could stop her now. Everyone was asleep. She hid between two beds in the infirmary but the light was already increasing. It was entering the windows. It was taking over Hermione.

And then it stopped. It died. The world became quiet.

She looked up to the soft light of a distant sun, but it wasn't the sun. It was Hermione again, losing strength. Instantly, the school heeded her call and every student asleep in that infirmary set firm foot on the floor. Like zombies, they walked to the light, eyes open but blank and fixed.

She saw Ron lead the charge and ran to stop him. "Ron? Ron, stop! Do NOT go into the light!" Tonks yelled but he didn't listen. She waved her hand in front of his face but nothing. He didn't even blink. She tried to push him back but he was much larger than she. Something told her to let them go, to follow them. She hid behind Ron, something she never thought herself do. When they reached outside, she tried to find Draco and Dumbledore and Om-ree but there was just a ball of a light that surrounded Hermione. She began to fear the worst and held onto a tree to stop herself from being drawn into it. The entire student body, even those who had not fallen asleep, was forming a circle around her. The Dementors were nearly all gone.

A great wind overwhelmed them and Hermione's screams echoed so loudly with the wind that Tonks was sent to the wet ground. Water from the lake was getting mixed into the air. She looked to the school. Harry was stumbling out. He was immune. Hope rose in her and she ran to push him back inside.

As the scream became deafening, the castle grounds began to lift themselves up off the ground, riding on a large mist with a life of its own.

"Hermione!" Harry screamed, reaching for the light in the distance. She must have heard him because the castle trembled. The trees withered down to stubs and the grass died… then everything regrew in the mist as if nature was being controlled by remote. Again and again, the world withered and was reborn, quickly before their eyes.

The light slowly receded back into two figures in the middle: Draco and Hermione. Draco knelt in the air before her. Her arms were still wide open, waiting for the embrace that never reached her. Elizabeth and Albus were still hand in hand behind him, frozen standing with their heads bowed as if praying.

The castle kept rising and rising. The sky turned dark and the stars changed as if they were being wiped from side to side.

"They're moving the castle?" Harry asked.

"What?" Tonks replied. "They haven't done that since the founders moved it here from out east."

"Hogwarts wasn't safe anymore. Now it is," he said with a smile. The castle finally rose till the circle touched the ground again. Little slivers of light left Hermione and returned to the students, every single one. They shook off the sleep and awoke, standing in the field with a little voice in their ear that whispered, "Thank you."

Hermione collapsed to her knees before Draco. Her eyes were dark and empty. A shell. "I've been looking for you," she whispered, trying to muster enough strength to caress his face. Her hand trembled but it never got up off the ground. She couldn't breathe.

"I'm here," he whispered back. "You found me." But she never heard it. She just fell limp, forward onto him. Draco kept telling himself she was fine. She was fine. She had to be. It didn't matter that his heart was saying goodbye. He laid her head on his lap and stroked her hair, trying desperately not to cry.

Ron made his way through the crowd and knelt down beside them. Harry ran too. Ginny and Adlai walked towards them in the distance, hand in hand, knowing all too well what was inside the crowd. No one spoke. A few cried. They'd shared 20 days inside her head. They had felt what she felt, thought as she did. And now, they mourned with Draco.

Dumbledore finally let go of Om-ree and put a hand on his shoulder. "Come, son," he said. "Let's take her inside."

Ron and Harry looked at each other and Neville ran to help them too. Soon, almost everyone stepped forward to help carry her inside. They pulled out their wands and whispered a spell that lifted her from the ground, gently, and took her inside. Draco held her hand as she floated to a bed in the infirmary.

Harry stayed back with Dumbledore as the rest of the school was herded back inside by the teachers. "This wasn't it, was it? The worst is still to come," he said.

Dumbledore nodded and replied, "But we have lived another day. This is all that matters. It's more than Ms. Granger may have."

"Will she be alright?"

"With time, maybe. Though I believe she and Draco may never be quite the same."

"What do you mean?"

Om-ree came up behind them. "Don't worry, Harry. Not for them. The worst is yet to come but they have fulfilled what was needed of them," she said.

"What was needed of them?" Harry spat. "They're not lawn tools! Their lives have been completely changed. Hermione might as well have died today. Voldemort's still out there."

"Yes, but now he can never find us," she spat back. "How many will be saved because of her? How many were saved today? I know it doesn't seem fair, Harry, but there's more the world than a single person."

"What about me? How am I to stop Voldemort? I am a single person."

Ginny let go of Adlai and walked to him. "No. If today proved anything is that we are not alone. We'll fight. All of us."

Harry looked at Adlai and back to Ginny and something in him told him he had lost a part of her, but he hugged her nonetheless and for that night, all was quiet. Hogwarts was safe and hidden in fog, miles away from evil.

No one was celebrating. No one wanted to talk. Most gathered around a fireplace, looking for warmth, trying to what the other was saying. They would not sleep for days. They would mourn their connection for an eternity.

-----

"Have you heard word from Draco?" Ginny asked Harry as he unpacked his clothes at the Weasleys. He hadn't really spoken to her since Hogwarts disappeared. He didn't really want to know if his assumptions were right. Every time he closed his eyes, he imagined her in Adlai's arms and felt his heart drop into his stomach and churn.

"Yes," he replied coldly.

"Well?"

"Well nothing. I didn't want to interrupt. He was having a lovely conversation with the outside of her eyelids."

"Harry!" she yelled. "I know you're angry with me but don't mock the poor boy. He's lost the love of his life!"

Harry spun around quickly, clutched her wrist, and hissed, "So have I!"

"You're hurting me."

"I learned from the best."

She pulled away and slapped him. He held his cheek lightly and stared at her, stunned. "I'm going back to the village for the summer, Harry. When you finally realize you left me first, you'll know where to find me."

"Ginny…"

"Don't you have a vendetta you should be tending to?" she spat and walked out the room.

Ron bumped into her on the way out. "What's the matter with her?" he asked. "Lovers' quarrel?"

Harry shot him a dirty look.

"Have you heard from Draco?"

"For the hundredth time, yes. No change."

Ron sat on the bed with his piece of toast in hand, staring into the void. "Do you think she ever will?" he asked sadly.

Harry felt like he was talking to a three-year-old. He pitied him. He'd lost Ginny but she was still in the next room. Hermione was lost to another world. They'd all mourned her but Ron remained optimistic. Harry pitied him even more for that.

"We'll be the first to know when she does."

"We'll be the second."

"Are you alright with that? With _him_? I mean, I know you and her…"

"I understand them now, what they feel. We all do. It's a feeling she and I never had."

Harry sat down on his bed across from Ron's and looked puzzled. "What feeling?"

"Peace. Perfect peace, Harry. When they're together, everything just… dissolves around them. They're happy with nothing, because they have each other. And not in the sort of human way we say we are. They honestly feel complete when they're together."

"I envy them then. When I'm with Ginny, all I feel is this constant pulling like there's something tearing me away from her," he said, making an angry gesture.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You've never been alone together, have you?"

Harry raised _both_ eyebrows. "Uh…"

"Take her away for a weekend. See how you feel when the world isn't staring you down. She fell in love with The Boy Who Lived, not simple ol' Harry. Make her fall in love again. Though I warn you… _touch_ my sister the wrong way and I'll serve you for dinner."

Harry gave a nod and thought about what he said. Take her away… If it was to be nothing else, it would be a wonderful goodbye.

-----

Elizabeth and Albus, as Draco had come to know them, sat in his office for quite some time every morning. Draco could not imagine what they did but he always assumed they talked over tea. That was the image he had of them and chose to bury that image into his head rather than ponder what was really going on.

Upon inquiring about his mother, he was asked to come to the office before dinner. It's not like he went to dinner since Hogwarts became hidden. He wouldn't be able to sneak looks at the Gryffindor table anymore. His friends didn't care about him. The rest of the school welcomed him but Slytherin had its allegiances, some sworn in blood. They understood, as did everyone, what he felt but they couldn't publicly support his tired cause to stand by her side.

Blaise visited him often though. He was with him when he got the call to visit the headmaster. They were in her room. It had become a shrine, almost. Anyone who visited dropped by flowers and a large pile formed around her.

"They mourn her as if she's died," Blaise said, staring at the beautiful, wilting roses.

"They've lost hope because they don't know what's happened to her," Draco responded.

"Go, Draco. They're calling you. I'll watch over her."

"If she wakes while I'm gone--"

"I know."

-----

"Ginny?" Harry asked, walking into her room. She was getting ready too. The bed beside her where Hermione would usually sleep during summers was being used for storage. For a moment, he thought she was sitting there on the edge but it was just a trick of light.

"What?" she asked sternly, not realizing it was him. When she turned around and saw his face, she stopped. His eyes pleaded forgiveness. His hair was a mess, more so than usual. His hands were limp by his side. He took a step in and looked up at her again. She asked it again, softer, but she knew the answer. There were things Harry could never say to her – it was not in him - but his eyes always told her what his words, vacant and cold, could never say.

She felt like crying and took a step towards him. They walked closer and closer together until the space between them disappeared and they were tangled in a sad kiss and a slow caress.

_Is this goodbye?_ she thought and gave a soft cry. Soon, their kiss had her pinned to the wall, his hand on her hip.

"When did you get so fearless?" she asked, remembering the fumbling old Harry. He was more confident now, took what he wanted.

"The day I met you." And he kissed her again.

-----

"Professor?" Draco called out, walking into Dumbledore's study. Om-ree was playing with Fawks in a corner. He'd recently caught on fire and was a cuddly little ball of feathers in her hands. "He's young again."

"Nah," she said with a smile, standing up. "He's still just an old songbird at heart. Have a seat, Draco. Albus will be right in."

He walked to one the chairs and rested back in comfort. He was safe at Hogwarts, finally. It comforted him that it all hadn't been for nothing. Fate had a way of doing that to lonely soldiers.

"How are you guys dealing with parents?" he asked as she sat down beside him with dreamy, content eyes.

"Fine, of course. What dad – or ministry man – can resist me?"

He looked at her, a tired old woman with ghostly features, and thought with disgust, _She's right. She's just my father's type._

"Have you finally figured out where the castle keeps moving to?"

"Nope. It just floats around, concealed in some sort of mist. It's got a life of its own, even penetrated the halls and a few classrooms. We're worried it's going to interrupt classes but so far it's not even knee-high," she explained.

"Has the Hogwarts express been put out of commission, then?"

The door opened and Dumbledore came in just in time to hear the final question. "No," he answered. "We'll just have to find it new tracks. We're looking into ice ones. They're changeable, work over water, and melt quickly in case any Muggles should stumble upon it."

"Ah. So what did you want to see me about? Have you heard from my mother?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "No," Om-ree answered for him. "Your father seems convinced she's dead--"

"No! The seer told me she would be fine," he interrupted.

"—but we _have_ gotten reports that she's being held at the old Riddle house," she concluded. "We don't even know why yet and the only thing we're sure of is that yes, she's still alive."

He leaned forward onto his knees. "Where'd we get the intel?"

Om-ree sighed and looked over to Dumbledore. He got the cue. "Professor Snape has been working on reclaiming his former title within Voldemort's ranks for quite some time now and he's quite fond of your mother. He seems to think Bellatrix is keeping her alive."

"That's not going to help for long. What if something happens to Bella? And I love old Snapey but--"

"We're aware of the vow, Draco. I assure you, it take more than death to stop _this_ old songbird."

Om-ree smiled. She'd protect Dumbledore. Even if it tore her up to be with him, she'd still die for him. And, he was quite sure if anything happened to him she'd die too, the sort of death he felt around him whenever Hermione was away.

They explained they could not do anything for Narcissa at the moment. They weren't sure she was there anymore. The place was completely protected, of course. He decided he had to take a final stand but he stood an army of one. They talked more of the situation – mostly of Hermione and what could be expected – before he excused himself.

On the way back to her room, he passed by the empty Great Hall. The halls were lonely and echoed his footsteps. He heard a foot scraping in the distance and felt like running after them. Something told him it was Hermione, though he knew it couldn't be. Her voice was sounding in his ear telling him to run, that it couldn't possibly be her.

But the moment he turned the corner, there she was, just as he had left her. "Hermione?" he whispered, suddenly breathless. She looked like she wanted to cry, like she had been crying for days on end.

"Oh Draco," she replied, hugging him tightly and taking comfort in his arms again. "It hurts so much to see you again."

He loosened their hug at her words and parted to ask, "What?"

She quickly wiped her tears and pulled him down the empty hall to the room where he had left her. Blaise still sat next to her body on the shrine. When he saw them enter, he froze and looked back at her sleeping body. Two of them?

"Draco, I know you miss her but this is _really_ creepy," he said, terrified.

Hermione smiled. "No worries," she said. "It's me, two weeks from now."

Draco stared at her too. "Oh… my… God…"

"Sweetheart, close your mouth. You'll catch flies."

"No," he hissed. "Why did you come back? What's happened?"

She looked to Blaise. "Blaise dear, could you give us a moment? We're going to need your help, alright? You need to go to the Weasleys' and get Harry, Ron, Adlai, and Ginny. Make sure you get Harry and Ginny yourself. Don't let Ron do it or else quite a few friendships may be ruined and Harry may be chopped in with supper. Tell no one else. Bring no one else. And tell Ginny to bring the vile. She'll know what I mean."

Blaise gulped, nodded, and hurried out. Hermione quickly ran to shut the door and took Draco to the window where she could see his face more clearly. She caressed his cheeks and smiled. "Oh it's so good to have you like this again," he whispered, kissing her lips then her neck.

She made a noise like a reluctant no and grasped both his arms to pry him off her. "Draco… Where I come from, you've just died," she said, the circles under here eyes even darker in the dimming light.

"What—How?" he asked, time suddenly catching up to him.

"It's nothing we can prevent right now," she said, hurried. "You died for a good cause. You saved your mother, Harry, everyone… I was not there. I came too late. I kept telling myself if I'd been there, I could have saved you. So I took a Time Turner. It's set so it'll snap me back to my time right after the moment you were meant to die. We have to hurry. There are things we must gather, places we must travel on the way…"

He didn't let her finish. He hugged her so hard she couldn't breathe. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it together. I'll be there for you, no matter what."

She let a single tear escape her iron defenses. "That's what I'm afraid of."

-----

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWELVE:**

--Will they be able to save Narcissa?

--Why doesn't Hermione want to be there when they make their final stand?

--How did Draco die?

--What role will Blaise play? Can he be trusted?

--What's going to happen to Dumbledore and Elizabeth?

--Has Adlai seen Draco's death? Why hasn't he said anything?

--What are Harry and Ginny doing that might get Harry killed?

--_Someone will die. But who?_

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	12. For Hermione

**Twenty Sinful Nights with Draco Malfoy**: PART TWELVE

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _Such a long time, I know. I hope you've not forgotten me or our kinky little heroes. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think. I keep getting ideas from your comments and I welcome all kinds. Thanks to all who've followed me this far. _

-----

Blaise took the portkey Hermione gave him. It was a quill, presumably the only thing she had on her when she made it. He flew out past the mist into the middle of the ocean as he was told, and soon came crashing into the Weasley kitchen. Mrs. Weasley came running in, shrieking and smacking him over the head with his own broom.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! I'm a messenger for Hermione Granger! I come in peace, woman!" he yelled, snatching the broom away.

"ARTHUR!" she yelled, long and loud. Mr. Weasley came running down the stairs, followed by Ron.

"Blaise Zabini?" he asked. "Is that you, boy?"

Blaise threw his hands in the air in surrender. Ron and Adlai came rushing down the stairs. Ron pulled out his wand but Adlai snatched it from him quickly. He had seen Blaise in his mind and knew what needed to be done, so he helped him calm down the Weasleys.

They all sat around the dinner table, a bit more harried than usual, and let Blaise talk. Ron went to get Harry and Ginny but Adlai told him to stop.

"I'll do it," he said and went upstairs, slowly and reluctantly. He knocked twice on the door and heard shuffling and hushing. He rested his forehead on the door and closed his eyes. He was looking for possibilities, for a chance to avoid what he'd seen in his mind, but nothing. It was inevitable.

Ginny opened the door, her hair a mess. Harry was sitting on the bed, putting on his shoes. She seemed surprised that it was him, expecting one of her brothers of course.

She went to whisper his name but he just smiled and it cut her off. Her mind was blank.

"The family's waiting downstairs. We've news from the castle, from Hermione," he said, his tone soft and calm like he'd it together long before. He'd known what he was getting himself into when he decided to love her. But he'd also decided that a long time ago, to love her despite everything he knew was coming.

She went downstairs first, after Adlai flattened a few stray stands of hair. Harry watched his gentle touch as he did so, a mix of pity and jealousy rustling inside of him. He knew then, as Adlai had always known, that Ginny would always be with him. No Adlais or Krums or Dean Thomases would ever take him from her.

Ginny saw Harry and Adlai give each other a look. She wasn't sure what it meant but there was no ill will between them, none she could see of course.

When they got downstairs, Blaise had already begun to tell them what happened, what they needed to do. Mr. Weasley asked that he and Mrs. Weasley be left out of this and dragged his wife out of the room, much to her complaint.

The moment Blaise was about to explain to them that he had the portkey to get them back, it began to glow and they all quickly ran to snatch it before it left without them.

-----

"You're nutters, you know that?" Ron stuttered. "You want us to go barging into Vol-Vol-Voldemort's old house? To save a Malfoy?"

"Actually, it's his current house… _fortress_, really," Hermione clarified. Ron glared at her. They were back within the hour so it hadn't given Hermione and Draco much time to talk. They had to find the thestrals so they had to find Luna first, their unofficial liaison. She was still in the castle. Quite a few had left after Hogwarts was taken by the mist, including one or two professors.

On the way to the thestral clearing, they lagged behind so they could at least have a caring glance but it was too difficult. Every time Hermione looked into his eyes, she quickly looked away, picturing his face covered in blood. She couldn't kiss him without gagging. She was tarnished, war-worn. He knew she would move on with time but he quickly reminded himself that if they succeeded, he'd have his old Hermione back.

When Ginny arrived, Hermione had made that clear. She said she didn't want to stay in a world without Draco.

"Who else died?" Ginny had asked.

Hermione never answered.

And now, on the way to see the thestrals, each felt an enormous weight over their heads. Ron wondered how they would find them in the fog since so few of them had seen a death and they could barely see their feet hit the ground. Hermione took Draco's hand so tightly that their knuckles turned white. Suddenly, nothing needed to be said but still he said it, "I don't know if I told you before I died… but, no matter what happens, I love you. It wasn't the lust or sex. It was you. I love _you_."

"You didn't have to. I knew," she whispered back.

He suddenly felt her pulling him back but the mist was too strong to see. Nobody noticed they'd stopped. She pinned him against the tree and kissed him in a way she'd never kissed him. It wasn't a goodbye. It wasn't pure desire. It was just comfort. Pure comfort, in a kiss. It wasn't even the kiss but the way they held each other as they kissed, their curves finding each other again as they pressed against each other.

She heard someone clear their throat through the mist and they parted. It was Ginny. She was cutting through the mist with rays of heat from her wand. Hermione hated that she hadn't thought of it first but she had other things on her head, things she was trying so hard not to forget. Lives depended on it. Draco still didn't let go of her hand.

He was more determined than ever to save himself, for her. He felt if he wasn't with her, he might as well let the mist eat him up. So, while she executed her grand plan to save him, he was quite determined to save _her_ because he knew the extent she would go to for him. There was certain comfort in knowing someone cared for him like that. No one had ever cared for him with such passion and determination. The only one to even come close to caring was his mother.

And look where that got her.

They mounted the three thestrals and off they were. Harry and Ron rode up front, followed by Draco and Hermione in another, then Ginny and Adlai. Luna was asked to stay behind with Blaise to keep a look on the sleeping Hermione back at the castle. They'd been left with specific instructions to guard the body and at 5AM the day after next, no matter what, they were to give her Ginny's potion.

Harry knew exactly where the Riddle house was, maybe even better than Hermione who had been there in person, because of his connection to Voldemort. He wouldn't be there for the day, Hermione knew, but he was on his way there.

"The sun's about to rise over Scotland," Hermione said, with the amazement of watching a movie for the second time. She knew every ray of light, every speck of bright orange and purple. She couldn't help herself and started to cry. Draco could hear her behind him and put his hand over hers on his waist. She hugged him tighter as if clinging to him for just a little bit longer.

"Is that where we are?" he asked.

She sighed and nodded. "Hogwarts was near Iceland at 9PM last night. It doesn't live in our own time anymore. It's outside that, constantly shifting from different points in space. Iceland was the closest we could get. We're almost at the highlands now. We have to make a stop there. After that, we have to get to London and then we take a train into the village."

"I have a castle there we can stop in."

She smiled. She had fallen in love with the Draco in plain old school robes like everyone else. She knew he was rich. She had seen it. But it was moments like this that reminded her just how much and what she was getting involved in. She wondered if she could live like that for the rest of her life. She imagined a wedding with white orchids that draped down in tall centerpieces and cloth napkins with a gold trim. She imagined her white dress, something regal yet simple. And she imagined him, standing there at the altar, waiting for her. Then she realized she would never reach the altar and wept again.

When they saw Draco's castle in the distance, she wiped them quickly as if covering up evidence of a crime, and they landed. The thestrals practically collapsed and Ginny and Adlai's landed a bit head first. They came flying off and Ginny landed on top of him, laughing. They all ran to help them up but Harry couldn't touch her, could barely look at her.

He turned towards Hermione and asked, "Why couldn't we take a portkey?"

"We can't get there too early. It has to be just as I planned. Besides, no portkey will work near the house."

He nodded like he was listening but his mind was elsewhere. "You've seen the future, 'Mione. Are she and I--"

"You're timeless, Harry. I promise you."

"Then why wasn't I the one who traveled back in time? Why isn't Ron or Ginny or any of them here?"

She smirked. "You didn't know it could be done, not like this. It took two weeks of planning, from the moment he died. All by myself. This isn't your fight, Harry. It's mine."

He snapped out of his thoughts of Ginny to face her and grasp her shoulders as if it would give his words further meaning. "Listen to me," he said. "I've been where you've been. I've wanted to do it all myself. I wanted to save the world from an evil I helped bring back just by existing. But it wasn't worth it. I cannot save the world. I can only save those I care about. You're one of them, Hermione. We all love you and we will do what it takes to help you save him."

She tried to hide it but she wanted to cry. He could see it and hugged her. She completely broke down, the sudden feeling of being utterly alone overwhelming her. Harry didn't understand it, why she would continue to feel alone. The harder she cried, the tighter he hugged her but she just slid down to her knees, taking him with her.

The others heard it in the distance and Draco quickly ran to see what was wrong. Harry got out of the way and Draco knelt down in the mud before her.

"'Mione? Darling, are you all right?" he asked, trying to lift her face as if it might tell him what was wrong. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away her tears. It had the Malfoy crest on it but it was obvious it came with the robes. "Hermione, talk to me!"

"I tried to convince myself it was fine to cheat fate because something in my heart told me I had to be with you. I tried to tell myself I could risk their lives if it meant getting you back. But it doesn't make it right. I've been selfish. We can't go on, Draco. We can't."

Ron pushed Draco out of the way and took Hermione's face in his hands. "You listen to me and listen well, girl. You're right. You shouldn't be risking our lives, but we have every right to risk our own. You've been there with Harry and me every step of the way. You've risked your own life countless of times to save stupid us who do stupid things to get in the way of unthinkable evils. Forget what I said before, Hermione," he whispered finally. "We will go through Hell to make you happy. And if Malfoy does that, we'll do everything we can to save him."

Hermione's eyes were fixed on Ron's. They were determined, almost dangerously so. She gulped down her tears and nodded. He helped her up from the mud and lent her hand to Draco, who thanked him in a whisper.

Ginny started another conversation about something cheery and fun. She was always the child bringing light back to their weary lives. Adlai was her escape. Harry was their connection to another world of peril and excitement. Ron was the trusted friend, the confidant. Hermione was once the brains. Now, she was a cause, which they found more honorable. To save her, they'd have to welcome the enemy into their midst – Draco.

Walking down the garden path to his mansion, pulling the thestrals behind them, they all thought the same thing. They had to do this, no matter the risk. For Hermione.

-----

"Welcome to Haydn House," Draco announced as they watched his house from the hill.

They arrived at the mansion stables. It was a large house, old and covered with vines and hanging lavender. It seemed more of a country retreat but almost all his mansions had that feel. There was only one, Malfoy Manor, which truly stood as a house and a home. Hermione had seen a picture of it once in a book and upon meeting him, often wondered what it would be like to lead such a house, to be the wife of a man of his status. She hadn't thought of that in what seemed forever. Life kept reminding her it was a fairytale that could never be, making it ever harder to reach the Manor doors.

The elves helped them to their rooms. Only Draco and Hermione shared a room, a large one with burgundy linens and rich, dark wood carvings. They wouldn't have too much time to stay but they were told to relax till Hermione gave word that it was time to go. As far as they knew, they could spend the night and they would get a head start the next morning at promptly 7:03AM. Hermione insisted on the time. 7:04 would be too late. 7:05 would be a disaster.

Hermione found herself staring at their bed. She'd been there before. She'd shared his bed and his embrace and it only made her remember the bad times, the gory details he was not allowed to invade.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She loved it and he knew it. He loved to hear her moan when he kissed her neck all down her back. But he didn't now. She pulled away too quickly.

"I'm going to take a bath," she announced.

He sighed and nodded that she should go ahead. He'd usually join her but he knew she'd come a long way and needed some privacy, some time alone. It was breaking his heart to see her drift even more apart from her.

He heard a knock at their door just as he heard the bath water turn on. It was Adlai.

"Have you a minute?" he asked.

"Yea, come in," Draco replied. "Hermione's in the bath."

"I know. Just like I know what you're thinking of doing. Just like I knew Ginny and Hermione would come to me at the village. Just like I saw the yellow dress covered in blood, your blood," he whispered, stepping inside.

"Hermione told me you were a Seer."

"I need to know one thing, Draco, the one thing no vision will tell me."

Draco looked scared that he'd be asked something he should never know, that he'd have to give an answer he'd never wanted to admit to even himself.

"Does it still hurt when you kiss her?" Adlai asked, hurried and with no shame.

"What?"

Adlai asked again. "Does it still hurt when you kiss her? You said it, maybe you thought it, but you knew that every time you kissed her, it hurt to control yourself. It hurt to tell yourself it must come to an end sometime. Knowing the truth, knowing she's not the mate you envisioned, does it still hurt?"

Draco tried to respond but he couldn't breathe. Great grief had lodged itself in his throat. He missed Hermione now more than ever.

"Yes," he finally whispered. "It still hurts, more than you'll ever know."

Adlai looked back at the hallway. Ginny leaving her room to find Harry. He turned back to Draco and with pain easily read on his face, he replied, "Oh I know. I've seen her future, sir. Don't leave her, not for an instant. I do not have options. I have seen my end and it comes soon. But you sir, you and her… It takes a moment to change a lifetime."

Draco looked back at the bathroom door. It'd been left open just a sliver, just enough for him to gain hope.

"Thank you," he whispered back, hoping no one in the halls would hear. "Thank you."

Adlai smirked sadly and left. Draco turned back to the ever so slightly ajar door and with the determination of a man who knew his end was coming, he lifted his shirt above his head and tossed it into the room. He tore off his pants and threw his shoes off. One went flying out the window but he didn't notice.

Hermione heard the scuffle of clothes and banging furniture outside and stopped before getting into the bubble bath. She turned off the water.

"Draco?" she called out. "Is everything okay?"

He didn't respond. She went to the door to open it just a tad and saw him trying to get his socks off by hopping on one foot, naked, in the middle of the room. He stopped hopping when he saw her smile. It radiated on her tired face.

"Draco?" He stormed to her and kissed her savagely and without remorse. She pushed away. "Draco, what's gotten into you?" she shouted.

His voice quivered but he held her waist and her cheek and she enjoyed his warmth. "I don't know what about us died, Hermione. It wasn't me. It wasn't you. It died long before you came back here. It hasn't been that long and yet we're not the same. We never will be. But I'm here, right now, and no matter what happens I want to look back at this night, this last night, and know that we can live again."

She wanted to cry but she didn't because it would ruin the memory. She realized now that by trying to make 20 perfect nights in her mind, she had forgotten how wonderful it was to be in his arms, his real, corporeal arms. Not a single one of those nights meant anything. It had bonded them, even some would say saved Hogwarts, but she would only have the next night. It was the promise of tomorrow, of change and growth, that those 20 nights lacked. In one night, in one very long bath, they were able to capture what they could never feel in their greatest dreams.

And though both were quite sure this would be their last night together, it felt as if it lasted an eternity – that they would have this eternity. If even one of them survived, they would know they did not live in vain. They would know love in their final hour.

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**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THIRTEEN:**

--What will they find at the Riddle House?

--Only one will live. Who will it be? Draco or Hermione?

--Will Hogwarts ever be found?

--Why is there blood on Ginny's yellow dress?

--If he can see the future, what is Adlai waiting for? Or is it who?

--Will Voldemort find them?

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